Scars
by Sierra156
Summary: The Flock meet when they're put in a foster home together. They've all got a story- Fang blames himself for the death of his family; Max was abused by her father, and never really got over it. Read to find out the others' stories. Fax, Eggy, and no wings.
1. Adopted?

**Awww yeah, Scars is up. I worked on this for days. So enjoy, my minion/reviewer/people…. Things.**

**Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge are all fifteen. Ella is fourteen, and Angel is nine. Thought you ought to know.**

**I dedicate this chapter to my midget; you know who you are.**

**MaxPOV**

"Max, we've found a family that will take you."

Well, that was unexpected.

My jaw felt like it might hit the floor at that, but in a show of nonchalance, I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. I was sitting in front of some agent's desk at the adoption agency, and until now, I hadn't known why they'd called me here. Probably to tell me sucks, bitch, you're never gonna be adopted. But in more formal, government-y words.

See, I'd been stuck around this place since they'd put my dad Jeb behind bars. Colorado State Penitentiary, ladies and gents, home to my psycho father for hopefully forever. He got put behind bars three years ago. For those three years I'd been bouncing around from foster home to foster home because no one wanted to deal with me: big daddy issues, rule-breaker, horrible unloving foster-daughter, "impatient violent cretin." I've been called worse. I didn't mind that no one wanted me; I liked it that way. And now all of a sudden someone wanted to adopt me, knowing who I was and what I've done?

"They're- well, they're wealthy, and they're adopting several other children, too, roughly six," said the agent. (His name was Dean or something, I never cared.) Great, rich snobs and six other brats to deal with. "The mother is named Dr. Valencia Martinez, and she has a biological daughter named Ella." Let's make that seven brats.

"When do I move?" I questioned flatly. I give these people maybe a week before they kick me out.

"In a couple days," he answered. "We still have papers to sort out."

I shrugged. "Seeya, Don. I'm packing." I rose without asking to leave (as if I ever would) and while I made my way down the hallway, forced to watch all these other happy kids meeting their new happy parents, and resolved not to get close to this new family. I haven't trusted anyone in five years.

"It's Dean!" he shouted after me.

"I don't care!" I yelled back, and slammed the door to my room.

**FangPOV**

"Nick, someone wants to adopt you," the agent in front of me said, and I didn't even bother to lift my head from glaring a hole in the table.

"It's Fang," I muttered, picking at the torn sleeves of my sweatshirt. Normally I wouldn't even say a word, but for God's sake, I _hated_ my real name and since the people who gave it to me were dead, why keep it anyway?

He sounded resigned and sighed. "Right. Fang. I know you're upset about your family, but we can't keep you here forever-"

"Don't talk about my family," I ground out. That familiar spike of pain shot up my chest, and I dug my nails into my palm.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to live with these people, like it or no. Dr. Martinez is a kind woman, and you'll have new brothers and sisters-" I don't want any new brothers and sisters, Maya is my sister- "so please, please try to get along. Give them a chance."

"No," I replied obtusely, tugging the sleeves of my sweatshirt back down over my wrist. If they saw what I hid there, I'd be sent to a shrink.

_I do not need a freaking shrink._

**NudgePOV (Prepare for OOC-ness on purpose. Bear with me for a while.)**

"I don't want to go," I hissed. "She'll hate me. I bet she doesn't even want me. I bet you bribed her. You did, didn't you? Why would she even want someone liked me?"

"Monique, I assure you, she is a very caring person, and she won't judge you for what you've done," the agent soothed. Like hell they won't! I'm a kleptomaniac! Thievery is my thing. It's so easy it became a hobby. I take what I want and do what I want and I've been arrested a few times, but I don't care because nothing like that ever mattered to me after I lost my parents.

All the foster parents I've had have kicked me out. They apparently couldn't handle "me and my delinquent ways." Se here I was, getting shipped off to another family that was gonna reject me like that.

"I'll be sure to say I told you so in a few months," I fumed and stalked out.

**GazzyPOV**

"Could you guys please be good for this family?" the adoption agent begged. I snorted- maybe in his wildest dreams.

"I dunno, will they family be good for us?" said Iggy coolly. Typical Ig, my bling twin brother- our little nine-year-old sister clung to his hand like her life depended on it.

We'd been on the run up until four months ago. Our stupid, abusive, drug addict parents had finally overdosed, and we were glad to see the backs and the death of them. We didn't wait until the people in suits came for us to take us to a place just like this; we ran away and left our parents to rot. But one night we slept in a park, and the police found us and took us here, just four short months back. We'd been to just one family so far and were promptly given the boot after it was discovered just how devious we could be. It involved a small (totally harmless but hilarious) land mine and getting arrested, and also three boxes of stolen Twinkies. You don't wanna know. See, Ig and I were pyromaniacs of a sort. Angel was our little apprentice, but the explosions didn't really appeal to her, so we passed down to her our knowledge of theft, which we were damn good at.

"Just try not to blow up the house, okay? This lady's very nice, and so is her daughter. There'll be three other kids being adopted too."

"Big house, huh?" I asked casually.

"She's wealthy."

Though he couldn't see the grin I gave him in return, Iggy grinned at me. "Rich? Oh, we'll give them a chance, you bet."

**A WEEK LATER:**

* * *

><p><strong>MaxPOV<strong>

The lobby was empty aside from me and the secretary, whom I was facing, holding my skinny little near-empty backpack. Apparently my new "family" should be here anytime now. And I was so excited! Enter sarcasm, my only friend.

"Maxine Batchelder?" said a woman's voice. I kept my arms crossed and did not face her. I never replied to that name. If she ever calls me that again, I will strike her down where she stands and regret nothing. Batchelder is my _father's_ last name and Maxine is the one _he_ gave me; they belong to him, not me. Maximum Ride is _my_ name.

The woman called my name again, and the secretary said, "Oh! Sorry Dr. Martinez, she's standing over there. Max! Why didn't you answer?" she scolded lightly.

"Max is better," I replied flatly, turning around. "First thing about me you should know, _Doctor,_ is that my name's Maximum Ride." There was a woman of about thirty standing there. She had warm brown eyes, dark brown hair, and tanned skin.

"Fine with me, Max," she said with a welcoming wave. Good, she's a quick learner, at least. "I'm Valencia Martinez, your foster mom."

"And I care," I said sarcastically.

"Good, you have a sense of humor," she laughed, grinning. Um? That was supposed to offend her, not make her laugh. I gave her my death glare, but she didn't even flinch. That normally made people cower in fear! What is _wrong_ with this lady?

When I was silent, she beckoned for me to follow her out the door. "Come on, there's someone- two people, actually- I want you to meet. We'll pick up the other four and then head home." I reluctantly walked out the door with her, and there was a big white car out there, that looked like it could hold quite a few people.

She seemed nice enough, not the snob I'd imagined. However, I had a reputation to keep and a house to get kicked out of. I climbed inside the car, and in the front seat, there was a mirror image of Dr. Martinez in the front seat, but way younger. Must be Ella- they'd told me about her, but not the other kids. She smiled brightly at me. "Hi, Max!" Ugh, she was so disgustingly happy. I just nodded back, glaring a little, but her smile didn't even falter. Like mother, like daughter, I guess. Too brave for their own good.

In the back seat next to the window, there was an African-American girl with crazy curly hair and dark eyes. I lifted my chin towards her, in the signal of mutual angry people, and she just glowered at me. Oh, her unfriendliness was so comforting. I didn't have to play Mr. Relatively-Nice-Guy with her, no sir.

I got in the back seat and sat at the window across from her and let the waves of I don't really like you radiate off me and kept my face in a scowl. Dr Martinez got in the driver's seat and said, "Max, those is Monique and Ella," she said warmly.

"Don't call me that," interrupted Monique. "My name is Nudge."

"Why?"

"Because I _said_ it was," she said with a glower, and receded back into her Nudge-bubble. Dr Martinez shrugged and buckled into the driver's seat. She doesn't ask questions or pry; that makes a lot of things easier.

"Well, we're keeping the other kids waiting," said Dr. Martinez, and turned the key in the ignition. I settled back in my seat as we drove out of the parking lot- oh, joy, more people to make my life more of an annoying hell that it was already! I couldn't wait. Detect the utter sarcasm and loathing I put into that sentence?

If not, you should really stop reading. _Right now._

A long while later, we stopped outside a bug bus station that had a middle-aged lady in a suit- presumably an adoption agent- and a tall boy dressed in black standing in front of it. The good doctor got out of the car, shook the lady's hand, and they chatted for a bit, and then she turned to the boy. He nodded impassively as Dr. Martinez introduced herself, and they headed towards the car.

He stuck his head in through the door, looking around, and I studied his face. His skin had an olive tone to it, his shaggy black hair was in desperate need of a haircut and fell into his face at several places, and his dark eyes were absolutely flat. Black, black, and more black. Coincidence? Maybe. Dyed hair? Probably.

He looked at Nudge and I in our little angry people coven, his face emotionless, and then at the front with ever-smiling Ella. It was either he sat in the empty row of three in front of us, next to Ella and her… bubbly-ness… or he sat back here, with two scowling people who pretty much didn't like him on sight, and he knew it.

So naturally, he chose the back seat.

He sat in between Nudge and I, tossed his backpack into the trunk, and assumed a deadpan stare out the window.

Okay. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Quiet has entered the car.

Dr Martinez went through the introducing drill, and apparently, his name is Nick Walker. He said only three words in his deep, rough voice- "Call me Fang." Does Dr. Martinez pick kids with nicknames on purpose?

We left for the final destination- another adoption agency, but in a town about an hour away. An hour. _In a car._ It didn't exactly fly with me, but I kept my mouth shut; I show no weakness. Inwardly, I was freaking out. Damn claustrophobia.

After an hour of silence and an unplanned glaring contest with Fang- he looked down for a second and I immediately took the opportunity to give him my Ultimate Glare Of Doom and Destruction, which he matched- there were three more kids in the car, in the seat on front of us. Their names were James, freakin' _Zephyr,_ and Ariel (they clarified cheerfully that their parents had been druggies and named them while high) but their nicknames were Iggy, Gazzy, and Angel. The twins had a history of illegal bomb making and theft, it seems. Gazzy was short for "The Gasman." I really, really don't want to find out. Angel fit the little girl's looks perfectly- but according to her brothers, not her personality. She had blond hair and big blue eyes like her brothers, and she was, honestly, adorable.

They all had blue eyes, actually, but Iggy's were… clouded over. Blind. Despite that they told us why they were here, and their various crimes, (unlike Nudge, Fang, and I) they wouldn't say anything about it. Uncomfortable subject, I guess- I know what that's like.

They seemed a lot less angst-y and reserved than Fang and I, but once we were in the car and on the way 'home', they only talked to each other. They joked and smiled a little, but not at the rest of us, and I didn't blame them. It seems we all had trust issues.

* * *

><p><strong>FangPOV<strong>

It's official. I hate this.

Angel? No doubt adorable, no doubt annoying.

Ella? Too damn cheery for my taste.

Nudge? So far, angry and quiet, but we'll see what happens.

Gazzy and Iggy? Trouble. Double trouble. Probably gonna set me on fire eventually, among other things.

And Max. Lean, mean, has a good death glare, one to match mine. She's quiet, but she's got... nice... brown eyes.

And she resembles Maya so much it hurts to look.

Allow me to explain the 'Maya' thing- she's my twin sister.

Correction: was my twin sister.

Some insane-mass-murderer man killed my family.

I'd been at a party with some friends, and I stayed later than my curfew. Believe it or not, I once had friends and a life and actually socialized with people. So this guy decides to rob our house while my mom, dad, and sister were sleeping. I'll admit we had money; we weren't rich, but also not the poorest people around. My parents head him break in and went downstairs with no weapon and got shot on sight. Maya woke up, and… I don't like to say what happened after that.

But before he could get anything of value, our neighbors had called the police, and he disappeared. I came home to a house surrounded by police cars, tape, and crying people. I saw her body. Maya's. The image is etched permanently into my brain.

After that night, I wasn't the same, obviously. I curled in on myself, lost respect and friends, shut everyone out. I could've done something if I'd been there that night. I was an idiot.

So I began to cut to lock the pain out, along with everyone I knew.

We stepped outta the car and gave the house a good, long look. It was one of those two-story-tall, neat lawn, clean-looking houses. Pretty roomy, it looked like. "Here we are," announced Dr. Martinez somewhat grandly. "Home sweet home. I'll give you all a tour and then you can unpack." I almost snorted. That last bit would take about point-five seconds.

We walked through the front door into a nice, spacious living room. Nice TV, too. Too bad I never watch anything. We passed through the kitchen, looked down a short hall to where Dr M's office and room lay, and were shown the stairs to the basement. In the living room, the staircase off to the side led up into a hallway with three doors on each side- bedrooms? They turned out to be such. "First door on the right is yours, Max," Dr. Martinez said, stopping in front of a dark wooden door. She opened it, and we all peered inside, Max in the front.

It was dark purple, pretty large and simple, with two tall windows at the front that looked out on the street. Max gave it a slightly appreciative once-over and tossed her bag next to the grey-sheeted bed. "It's, uh, nice," she said with an awkward throat-clearing.

"Fantastic! Let's go to the other rooms." She showed us Ella's room, which was connected to Max's by a bathroom, and Iggy and Gazzy's, last in the hall. Theirs was plain blue, like mine. I approved of this greatly and didn't show it. So far I had a record of approximately three words towards these people and that was hopefully not gonna change for the rest of the day. On my side of the hallway were also Nudge and Angel's rooms, pale green and yellow, respectively.

"Okay, I want to talk to all of you now," she said, a previously unheard tone of warning in her voice. We all looked up. "I'm not gonna pretend that you're all perfectly innocent kids. I want no explosions, no thievery, no serious physical fighting. You're good kids, or you were at some point, so it's in you nevertheless. And you'll home schooled until I'm sure that you can all behave in a learning environment." She looked pointedly at Max, and I when she said this, and I just stared stonily back. But thank God we didn't have to go to school every day- eight people was more than enough for me. I miiiiight have gotten kicked out of school for excessive fights. What can I say? Gotta let off steam.

Just like that, the serious tone was gone. "You'll need new clothes, right? We shop tomorrow." There was a groan from Max, Iggy, Gazzy, and I. Ella and Angel seemed excited, and Nudge allowed herself a little smile. I hate malls, all those places with large amounts of people. I'm a bit of a huge introvert.

* * *

><p><strong>MaxPOV<strong>

Okay, I must admit. This was kinda a lot better than I expected.

No one shoved their conversation on me, the house was big enough to avoid people in, my room was nice, and did I mention that she gave us each a friggin' iPod shuffle? I've never owned anything that expensive, and they're only fifty bucks, so that tells you a lot about my previous lifestyle.

As I've said, my room was a great place to disappear and hide from everyone, which is what they were all doing right now. The only place we were forced to collide as a cohesive unit that night was at the table.

And let me tell you: Dinner was… an occasion.

What do you get when you take three angry silent kids, two guys who can't stop cracking admittedly funny jokes to each other, their little naïve sister, a girl who keeps trying and failing to make conversation, and her mother who makes fucking awesome tacos?

Some awkwardness slapped between to slices of awkward to create and awkward sandwich _drizzled in awkward sauce._

The only reason I stayed at that table was to eat Dr. Martinez's awesome Mexican food. I have a feeling that as a foster family we weren't gonna last long if things always went like this.

Success!

**So yes, that was the first chapter. I'm excited for this and feel like I did a decent job, so whether you like it or hate it, review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated.**


	2. My Damn Cookies

**Thanks for all the reviews, so very much! Check out my other stuff, maybe?**

**Someone asked if Fax would be incest in this; technically, no. They're just living in the same house, and they're not biologically related, AND Dr M let them keep all their last names… so…it's not incest!**

**Last night I was reading Another Form Of the Avian Bird Flu by StFangofBoredom- it's hilarious. Apparently I was dreaming about it after I fell asleep, because I was absolutely convinced that Spiffy the Hobbit and his second cousin once removed Peregrin Took were in my room.**

**Or maybe I'm just insane.**

**Disclaimer: Did I mention that I got bored, so I went cliché and kidnapped Fang? He'll be my disclaimer minion!**

**Fang: …will I? Will I really?**

**Me: Unless you want me to subject you to mental images of-**

**Fang: Fine, fine! I'll do it! Anything but the mental images... Sierra doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Me: It's so very painful to say.**

* * *

><p>MaxPOV<p>

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Shut up!" I yelled, smacking my alarm clock. Cool, it shut up without me breaking it! Achievement.

I rolled over, sticking my face in my pillow. Ugh, I don't wanna wake up. Wait, where was I? I don't recognize this room. I bolted upright.

Oh. I was in Dr Martinez's house. My new foster home. Again, _ugh_.

Suddenly, there was a quiet knock on my door. "Max?" said Ella. "You kind of need to get up… we're having breakfast now."

I flopped back onto my pillows. Today we have to go shopping. _Shopping_. Also known as my archnemesis.

After a bit of contemplating the pros and cons of missing breakfast, I decided that whatever was cooking smelled really good and dragged myself out of bed and down the stairs, still in my sweatpants and tank top.

I stumbled down the stairs next to a bleary-eyed Fang; he was yawning, and as we got to the bottom of the stairs, I accidentally tripped over his foot and faceplant into the rug.

I flipped over and saw him looking down at me, smirking. "What?" I said, glaring.

"You tripped," he answered, still smirking.

"I didn't trip, I attacked the floor with my ninja skills," I muttered. He held out a hand for me to grab.

"Thanks, but I can get up on my own," I hissed. What did he think I was, some damsel in distress?

"Well, excuse_ me_ for trying to _help,_" he snapped, suddenly angry.

"Maybe I don't need your help!" I shot back.

I stood, and we glared at each other, hands balled into fists. Any second now, one of us would snap.

And then Iggy walked in. "Whoa," he remarked. "The tension in here is almost tangible." He held out a hand and pretended to grab something. "All right, which two of you guys are about to kill each other? I feel bad vibes."

"It's fine, Iggy," I spat with much vitriol, stalking past Fang and towards the smell of bacon. "It's freaking _completely fine_."

Damn him. That was the most I've ever heard that _jerk_ talk. And damn Iggy too for coming in right then! I was dying to get in a little fight, blow off some steam.

"Good morning, Max," said Dr M brightly. I nodded darkly in her direction, and she looked a little surprised at my reply. Why should she be? Did she expect me to be all happy and _joyful_ all of a sudden?

I'm pretty sure she caught onto my mood when I almost broke the handle off the refrigerator when she asked me to get out the orange juice, and Fang stormed in, glaring at me. Jeez, it was almost like he had this little cloud hanging around him- lightning, thunder, and all.

"I don't even want to know," sighed Dr Martinez. "Just get your tempers under control." I just nodded again, wrenching my gaze away from Fang.

Breakfast was a little chattier than dinner last night; Ella had poked and prodded Nudge into a conversation, and Nudge was shyly and quietly discussing with her the merits of the Beatles. The twins were huddled close together, having a hushed conversation, probably about making a bomb or something. But me? I was shooting venomous glares at Fang, who was gladly returning them. I stabbed my pancake harder, pretending it was his face. _Come on, Max. Calm down…_

After breakfast, I showered and slipped into some ratty jeans, a tee, and my old Converse, a little bit cooled down from not seeing Fang's face for ten whole minutes. That stupid, stupid, stupid smirk. Smirks are my thing! He can't just storm in and steal my angry smirking thunder!

I dashed down the stairs, eager to get this little shopping trip over with. The sooner, the better. Alas, I soon found out that that wouldn't be the case at all.

Not when you go shopping with the girl who can't possibly be Dr. Martinez's kid when that kid is the spawn of the devil: Ella.

She spent so much time trying to drag me into all these stores like Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister, and I'm not a prep! Do I seem like a prep to you? I stood my ground resolutely and disappeared into the depths of some nondescript store that had jeans that didn't cling to your freaking legs and some simple, solid-color, non-boob-showing shirts. No tank tops for me, and that is my reason and my reason only. I'll disclose it with others is and when I wish to.

I felt pretty satisfied with my plain wardrobe when I walked out, and I was heading towards the rendezvous point at the food court (oh God, I was so hungry) when something in the window of Hot Topic caught my eye.

All of the shirts I'd bought were completely plain, but the shirt in the window had the name and album cover of one of my favorite bands on it. Nice rock band, good beats and no screamo or emo whiny-ness. I looked at it and immediately thought_ I want this because of reasons._

Unfortunately, your not-so-friendly neighborhood jackass was in there.

"What are you doing in here?" he muttered hostilely at me. In case you haven't guessed, said jackass is Fang.

"It's a free country. I can shop where I want!" I shot back.

"I was just leaving," he replied coldly, and left without buying anything, stomping away rather dramatically. Serves him right; a victory for me over his stupid Fangness.

I snatched my shirt off the rack before it could be taken and lay it on the counter. The extremely pierced chick behind the counter grinned at me a little. "Hope you two get over your fight soon," she said kinda suggestively. "He's quite the looker."

_Whoa whoa whoa_. "He is in no way, shape, or form my-"

"S'all right, I get it," she told me, pushing the bag in my direction and winking. No, she did not! Date him? I've known that idiot for a day and a half and he's already managed to screw things up. I let the shop in the same dramatic and huffy way Fang had, with a bit extra angry flair. I don't intend to be dramatic. I'm not dramatic! People call me dramatic _just because_ I like to stomp around when I'm angry. Which is all the time.

* * *

><p>Later that night, lying exhausted on my bed after unceremoniously throwing the clothes into the bottom of my closet, I smelled a strange smell in the air. Not one of the Gasman's 'special surprises'- we'd found out what those were like in the car this morning, and let me tell you, it was <em>not<em> pleasant. But this scent was… _delicious_. I sniffed and got up off my bed, following the smell downstairs into the kitchen.

"What's that smell?" I demanded. Dr Martinez was leaning over a tray on the counter.

"Oh, I just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies," she explained, smiling and stepping back to reveal a steaming plate of deliciousness

"Can I… have one?" I asked tentatively. I'm not prone to asking for things, only demanding or suddenly absconding with them, but I had a feeling that with this delicate cookie situation it wouldn't work.

"Sure," she said, handing one to me, and I bit into it and closed my eyes, savoring the feeling. It was like the cookie was having sex with my mouth. Amazing sex. (Excuse my expression, but _hnnnnnnggggg cookies._)

"This… is…. amazing," I managed between bites. "Ah. Mazing."

She laughed a little. "Glad you think so. Ella loves them, too."

Suddenly, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-Or-I-Will-Cheerfully-Rip-Your-Arms-Off-And-Beat-You-To-Death-With-Them walked in. I tensed, and he merely ignored me.

"Cookies?" was all he said, raising an eyebrow at Dr Martinez.

"Yeah. You want one?" she asked him.

"Sure."

"Oh, _fuck no!_ _My_ cookies!" I yelled, and tackled him to the ground, promptly sitting in his legs and holding him down with my hands.

Fang's eyes bugged out. _"Get_ OFF _me!"_

Dr. Martinez seemed at a bit of a loss on how to react to the situation before her, and after a few seconds, cried, "Max, language! Get off him!"

"But he'll eat all the cookies because he's a _stupid pig!_ They're mine now!"

"Since when are they yours?" Fang coughed from beneath me. Kinda hard to talk and I was pressing down on his lungs. _Suffer, boy, suffer._

"Since I became addicted to them!" I snapped.

"Least it's not drugs."

"Fang, if you do not shut up this instant I will personally make sure you'll never have any kids." He glared up at me in stoic silence.

"You two! Stop!" said Dr. Martinez, waving her arms a bit uselessly in the air. "Max, get off him, or there will be no more cookies!"

I jumped off him in a flash. "Can I have another one now?" I begged. Yes, these cookies were so good that they had the great, tough Maximum Ride begging.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but no more tackling Fang." I grabbed a cookie and walked out, ignoring Fang. If he thinks he'll be let off easy for stealing my cookies and being an ass, he's even more of an idiot than I thought.

**Okay, this was a little fillerish, and short, but I had to establish a hate relationship with Max and Fnick here. So suck it. But don't worry, there is Fax on the horizon!**

**Fang: But I don't want to hate her...**

**Me: Too bad. You're, like, completely different in this fic. You don't even have wings.**

**Fang: I hate you. A lot.**

**Me: Take it out on the wall. It's my Punching Wall. See all the fist-sized holes? Mhhmm.**

****-Sierra**  
><strong>


	3. Bad Memories

**WOOOHOOO! YOU GUYS REVIEWED! -Is happy-**

**Me: Good morning, star shine! The earth says hello!**

**Fang: Sorry about her. She's a little loopy right now. Lightheaded. I guess I'll just take over the author's note from here…**

**Disclaimer:**

**Fang: Sierra does not and will never own us, no matter how much she wishes. I can tell you that if she did own us, James Patterson may or may not have been assassinated by her personal spies because he's useless now, and as revenge for the end of FANG and pretty much the entirety of ANGEL. I would never have left, and Max and I would be living happily ever after, after pushing Dylan off a cliff. Capiche?**

**Me: That's about right! -does ninja roll-**

**Fang: -sighs- Go to the emo corner. Stay there until you can behave.**

**Me: But I'm not e-**

**Fang: Yeah, well, all the other corners are taken. Go.**

**A day later, after mucho eating of cookies and glaring of Death Glares…**

**FangPOV**

I was just tiptoeing into the kitchen to maybe steal a cookie, when…

"Fang, while you're down here, can you come in here for a second?" called Dr M from the living room.

I didn't answer, but I walked in, crossed my arms, and leaned against the doorframe. "Okay, good. Now just stay right there… MAX! GET DOWN HERE!" she yelled up the stairs. What? I don't want to be in the same room with her!

" 'KAY!" she shouted back, bounding down the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she didn't see me due to my ninja skills, and stood with her back to me. "What is it?"

"I want you and Fang to make up. I hate to see you two acting like you hate each other-"

"Which we do," Max interrupted bluntly.

"And you shouldn't, and under this roof, I'm going to do my best to help you guys get along."

"But he's such a jerk!" she complained. "I hate his guts, and I'm certainly not apologizing!"

It was at this moment that I chose to clear my throat. She whirled around. "You," she hissed.

"No, a monkey on crack," I said calmly. But inside, I was like WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?

She rolled her eyes. "Are you always this stupid, or are you just making a special effort today?"

"It's special," I agreed with a smirk. "But do you ever get this terrible empty feeling… In your skull?"

"I'm used to it," she said, playing along. "You're not yourself today. I noticed the improvement right away."

"Why don't you slip into something more comfortable? Like a coma."

"I usually never forget a face, but for you I'll make an exception."

"I'll try being nicer if you'll try being more intelligent," I shot back.

"Listen, Fang," Max said sincerely. "I'd like to help you out… which way did you come in?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but then I stopped myself, shaking my head a little. "Nah. I've changed my mind."

"Great," she said quickly, before I could continue. "Does this one actually work?"

I smirked. "You're good, Ride," I said, giving in. "Truce?"

"Oooh, last name basis. Sure, Walker," she agreed, smirking back.

Dr. Martinez was just staring at us in amazement. "Teenagers," she muttered. "How on earth do you make up by fighting some more?"

Max just grinned. And suddenly, I realized that we'd had a little audience, without even noticing. The twins, Angel, and Nudge were all standing near the bottom of the stairs. "Nice, Max," said Gazzy admiringly. "Can you teach me how to be so badass?"

"Anytime, Gaz," she said, still smirking at me. The side of my mouth quirked up a little- don't smile, Fang, don't smile… No emotion…

"I give you props for beating Fang," Iggy declared, clapping Max on the back.

Suddenly, Max froze. "Don't freaking _touch_ me," she hissed, some unreadable emotion flashing across her eyes. She pushed past us and went up to her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Was it something I said?" asked Iggy, mystified.

Dr. Martinez just shook her head. "Give her time," she told him.

MaxPOV

I exhaled, trying not to shake. No. No. No. Not this again, please not this…

Iggy touching me on the back brought back bad memories. Horrible memories.

_"You're such a fucking controlling IDIOT!" Jeb bellowed at me, advanced at me from across the room, his speech slurring a little._

_"Where do you think I got it from!" I screamed back, edging into the corner like a trapped animal. My eyes streamed and I couldn't see or think or say anything else. "WHERE DO YOU THINK I GOT IT FROM!?" _

_"You're a bitch! Stop saying that, you stubborn whore!"_

_"Where do you think I got it from!" His eyes went wild like a dog with rabies when I repeated it again, nearly sobbing. I was terrified and still so angry, shaking with rage- I could kill him in that moment- I WOULD kill him in that moment-_

_He lunged for me with another angry roar and I was dragged down, down to the ground, flipped onto my stomach, screaming and pounding the floor. My throat was hoarse from yelling at Jeb to stop, stop, _stop_, PLEASE, he ripped open the back of my shirt, took a knife to the skin, and-_

"No!" I shouted suddenly, jerking myself back into the present. The endless flashbacks had to stop. He was locked up and he couldn't hurt me anymore, not ever again. At least… not physically. Other pain? It never goes away.

A quiet knock came on my door. "Go away!" I yelled hoarsely. Shit, was I crying? No way. I don't cry, I'm not a baby like that anymore.

"No," came a firm and determined voice.

"You again? Seriously?"

"Me. I'm coming in."

There was a click as the door opened. Aw, shit! I forgot to lock it! Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ Max! I scrambled backwards onto my bed and armed myself with all the pillows I had. When Fang stepped into the room, I immediately started in on him with a barrage of pillow-missiles. "Get- out- of- here!" I yelled at him, punctuating each word with a thrown pillow.

He caught them all but the last one, which smacked him right in the face. When it fell he picked it up with an expression equal to the most unamused cat you'll ever see, but was rather amusing to me. And still he didn't leave.

"What are you _still_ doing here?"

"We just stopped fighting. Don't start it again."

"I won't if you get the _hell_ outta my room!" I said exasperatedly, looking for something to chuck at him. I didn't want anyone to see me like this, and I needed a little time to recover.

"I just came to say that your walls are very thin," he told me, almost like a warning against eavesdroppers. He turned to leave, one foot out the door, and then looked back at me. "And if you wanna talk, I'll be around."

I flushed slightly at the offer, feeling strange, because I don't generally talk to people about this sort of thing… ever. I've never told anyone outside of the government people. So he can keep that offer and shove it up his ass, because he won't get a word outta me. "Whatever. Thanks. _Leave_."

"Come with. I'll keep them off you." It wasn't so much an extended hand of peace, just a mutual I-know-that-feel kinda thing, a neutral exchange.

"Uh… sure." I tripped a little over my sheets in getting off the bed and rubbed my eyes, which thankfully had dried fully by now. We stepped down the stairs together in a slightly awkward silence, but when we reached the living room, any stares I got were met with venomous glares from largely Fang but also myself.

As I walked into the kitchen to get the last cookie, I heard Iggy whisper, "Okay, everyone. Lesson learned- don't touch Max, _ever, _or she'll probably eat you alive."

"I heard that," I called.

"No you didn't!" he yelled back.

I rolled my eyes and took a bite of heaven.

**FangPOV**

Well then.

If Max doesn't want to tell me what it is… I won't pry. I still want to know… but then I think, would I want her to know about me?

…Of course, that answer is flat-out no. No, no, no.

And also, what was I thinking when I went up there? I know Max, she could've ripped my freaking head off! And basically telling her she can pour out all her deep, dark secrets so me? I'm no therapist! I'm just incredibly curious about these things, and I have a feeling that she is too.

**Third Person POV**

Personally, Iggy was just glad Max didn't kick him in the balls after his accidentally pissing her off. "Gazzy! Is it finished?" he whisper-yelled into their room, knowing his brother was in there.

"Yeah!" The Gasman whispered back. "Wanna test it?"

"Sure, but who on? I think Max would probably try to kill us, after today…"

"Um, not Ange, of course, definitely not Dr M… what about Ella?"

"Not Ella. Pick another one." For some inexplicable reason, Iggy just really didn't want to do that to her.

"Um, oookay… Nudge? Fang?"

"Nudge… Nudge… oh, yes," he said, grinning deviously. "I can see the beauty of it now…"

* * *

><p>Nudge was half-dancing, half-walking around her room, listening to her iPod and folding clothes, when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something slide under her door. She walked over to it, bending down.<p>

And immediately jumped back when she saw the tiny, tiny fuse.

The fuse ran out just as she moved, and a greenish, really bad smelling smoke started to curl up into the air. _Oh God, that smells horrible!_

"IGGY! GAZZY!" she shrieked, immediately knowing who did it and grabbing a shirt off her bed to cover her nose. "YOU GUYS ARE SO GONNA GET IT!"

Nudge could hear hysterical laughter from downstairs as she burst out of her room and charged down the stairs, ready to punch a particular pair of pyros (try saying that five times fast) in their faces.

**Fang: As Sierra is still lightheaded- from laughing at RoosterTeeth videos, I expect- I'm going to be doing the A/N again. Okay… this is normally where we'd have some random, pointless fight, so I don't know what to do now… Wait! Review! She usually tells you guys to do that, right…?**

**Okay, Fang out.**

**-Fang. And not Sierra.  
><strong>


	4. I Tolerate You

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JACOB, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!**

**Fang: I will never forgive you for making me sing that.**

**Me: Too bad, Fnick! It's my brother's birthday, and you're going to be his slave for the day.**

**Fang: …Um, Sierra?**

**Me: Yeah?**

**Fang: I'm a figment of your imagination.**

**Me: I hate you.**

**Fang: I assure you, the feeling is mutual.**

**ANYWAY. I-**

**Fang: Shut up and get to the damn story already. Your readers are getting impatient. She doesn't own anything, by the way.**

**Me: Bu-**

**Fang: NOPE!**

FangPOV

_My fault. My fault. _

_"Fang." My sister. "You weren't there to help me. You let me die." Maya, no, I..._

_"I trusted you." Stop it. It wasn't my fault. "You left me alone!" STOP IT! It was him! He killed you, not me! "But you could have done something." I couldn't. He would've killed me too. _

_"I have to go now, Fang." Take me with you, please... Maya... "Goodbye." No. Maya! MAYA! _

"FANG!" shouted someone into my ear, shaking me awake.

"Huh?" I said groggily. "Whuzgoinon?"

Dr Martinez was leaning over me, looking a little pale. I could see other silhouettes in my doorway. Sleepy-looking silhouettes.

"You were sort of… yelling," she explained. "You woke everyone up." Ah, so that would be the small crowd behind her.

"Oh. Sorry…" I mumbled. "Um, go back to bed. I'm fine."

"If you're sure," she said, biting her lip. "Okay, back to bed. Night, Fang." I muttered a goodnight back to her as she walked out, shutting the door behind her.

I was just sinking back into sleep when I heard the soft click of my door opening. Dammit! Who dares wake me?

"Fang?"

"Max?" I muttered, sleepily surprised. "What are you doing here?"

She sat down on the edge of my bed, the moonlight shadowing parts of her face. Damn, was I turning into a freaking poet or something?

"Well, I was just wondering who... Maya… was," she said, looking me straight in the eye. I froze up.

Max did a facepalm. "Oh, dammit! I'm so freaking _stupid_… Sorry. I'll just get outta here." She got up, and her hand was on the doorknob, when I responded.

"No… it's okay. Don't go, I just…"

She nodded knowingly. "Yeah, I know what you mean." I haven't even said anything, and Max already understood why I didn't want to talk about her… or hear her name.

Max sat back down on my bed, only a few feet away this time. I felt her curious gaze on me, and I lifted my eyes to meet hers. We stayed like that for a minute, but then she shook her head, clearing it.

"Um," I said awkwardly.

"Yeah."

"So…"

"I should get back to my room…"

"Mhm."

"Fang?"

"Hm?"

"It really _sucks_ sometimes, doesn't it?"

There was a lot of layers to that sentence, I could tell. When she said it, for a second this fierce and somehow sad look flashed over her face. She didn't need to say what she was talking about. You don't get into a foster home for no reason.

And then I decided to do something stupid.

I reached out cautiously, like she was a wild animal, and lightly set on my hand on her shoulder.

I was afraid I'd gone too far. I felt like it was something we needed here, though- the way we interacted was so rocky and uncertain that I needed to know where the boundaries were, because right now they're fuzzy. I wasn't even sure if she hates me, or can tolerate me, or likes me. I needed to know what it was all right for me to do.

Her breathing sped up a little- her stomach going in quick, shallow, movements, and her eyes got a little wider. She _looked_ like a wild animal. not scared, just wary, waiting for something to go wrong. "Is... is that okay?" I asked tentatively.

She slowed down a little, started breathing deeper, and closed her eyes for a few seconds, getting accustomed to the feeling of being touched. "Yes," she said slowly and deliberately when her eyes opened. "That's okay. But I wouldn't advise it."

I took my hand off. "I get that."

Her forehead creased in concentration, and she looked up at me again. "You know, I tolerate you," she told me like she'd just given me the Nobel Prize.

I guess that was a good thing, judging by the way she usually treated me-or how I treated her. "Er. I tolerate you too." This could be counted as progress- normally, putting fire with fire just makes the flames burn even larger. And then the house burns down and we're all fucked.

She left with a little _I-tolerate-you_ wave.

MaxPOV

I quietly shut my door behind me and then leaned against it, staring my hand, which now felt cold without the warmth of Fang's covering it.

I couldn't believe I let him touch anywhere close to my back. The shoulders weren't as bad, but it was too close for comfort- and I confess I wasn't comfortable when he touched me. But I wasn't freaking out, either. I just felt a lot calmer than usual after I adjusted to the feeling. I hadn't lied to him. It was really okay... after a minute. I just don't want him to get used to it.

I haven't really not hated anyone like him in a long time. Toleration was a big thing for me. The rest of the kids, the twins aside, i could deal with. I didn't have any attachment to them. I could ignore them easily, and thus was not forced to tolerate them. And someone like Fang who seems to know just how to push my buttons when we fight- I never even remotely like them. At all.

Lucky guy.

* * *

><p>The next morning, when I went down for breakfast, I saw that Nudge wasn't down here yet. Fang was in his usual spot, next to where she would be sitting. Hmm...<p>

So I made a snap decision and plopped down in Nudge's usual spot. I got stares from Gazzy, Angel, Dr. M, Ella, and Fang himself. "Okay, guys, what just happened? Why is it so quiet?" asked Iggy warily.

"Max just sat down next to Fang…" murmured Ella. Iggy turned to 'look' at me too- it was scary how he could not see you and yet know exactly where your face was. The gaping looks continued.

"WHAT?" I finally exploded.

"She surprises me more every day," observed Dr Martinez.

"You're just… you, Max," said Gazzy lamely. "You… like… hate _everyone_."

I rolled my eyes. "Can't a girl sit where she wants these days without being bugged by several annoying children?"

"See, that's what I mean!" exclaimed Gazzy.

Suddenly, Nudge appeared in the doorway. "What... is Max… doing in my spot?" she muttered groggily.

I raised an eyebrow. "Since when is it your spot? I don't believe they were designated."

She stared at me for a second, and I glared at her, daring her to challenge me for the seat. Nudge just shrugged, though. "Whatever. I'll just sit next to Angel. She's adorable." Wow, she actually talked like a normal human being in the mornings. I'd have to get up earlier to witness this more often.

After I let out a couple more glares, everyone went back to eating their Coco Puffs... or whatever it was. But then a light bulb seemed to go off over Dr. M's head. "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you guys- on Monday you're starting school. Home school, I mean." There was a collective groan from all of us.

"Do we have to?" Iggy fake whined. Or maybe it was real whining…

"Yep, you do," answered Dr Martinez. "It's the day that _just Ella_ goes back to school, because I know she won't try to punch somebody's lights out, blow something up, hack into the computer system, or steal something."

Monday… August eighteenth. Today's Friday- damn. That gives me three days.

Oh, this is gonna be fun.

?POV

So, there was another kid in the Walker family, huh? He'd thought he'd got all of them during the robbery. It wasn't his fault he had to kill them. They got it his way, like all the others. This kid was a loose end. Loose ends were unacceptable.

Sam twitched. _Unacceptable_. He felt the handle of his gun in his pocket. _Gotta find get this kid. Unacceptable._

They said he was crazy. He'd show them who was crazy. He'd finish what he started.

**... And so enters Sam, Fang's family's insane killer. He's hell-bent on getting Fang, too.**

**Fang: So I've got a stalker now, huh? You mean he never got locked up?**

**Me: Yup! He bolted just as they called the cops.**

**Fang: I don't like dying. It sucks. A lot.**

**Me: Don't worry, he can't touch you here. This is my secret sanctum!**

**Fang: You secret sanctum is in your dining room, **_**in a spinny chair,**_** in front of an iMac?**

**Me: Never underestimate the power of spinny chairs, bro.**

**-Sierra**


	5. Jealous

**Okay, now the flock's on their own because Fowlmaniac kidnapped Max... The poor kids…**

**Fang: Max?**

**Me: Yup.**

**Fang: …I miss her…**

**Me: Nah, you miss making out with her. **

MaxPOV

"Max… Maaaaax…. Maximum…. Maxie… MAXIMUM FREAKING RIDE, WAKE THE HELL UP!" shouted Ella into my ear.

"Don't wanna," I groaned, rolling over and covering my head with my pillow.

"Max, I swear to God, I will take your cookies. I know where your secret stash is. Now get up! I have to go to school, and you guys all have to be ready by 7:40!"

"But…"

"Max. Up, right now." She walked out of the room, and I sat up unwillingly. Why does school have to be so early? I mean, if we're doing it at home, couldn't it start at, like, ten or something?

Wait… dammit, Ella knows where my cookie stash is. I guess I have to move it…

I got up, stretched, and walked over to my closet, picking out some jeans and a shirt, and then I went to my bathroom to shower. Yeah… you heard me. MY bathroom. Technically, I shared with Ella, but… whatever. It's nice to call something 'mine.' It has two doors, one that leads to my room and one that leads to hers.

I slipped into the shower before Ella could come in and hog it for practically the entire hour. The water felt nice pouring down my back, over the scars… Um… forget I said that… What scars? I have no scars. Liar.

When I was done, I pulled on my clothes and ran downstairs so I wouldn't miss breakfast- Iggy was making bacon… mmmm. Dr M had been relieved of kitchen duty most of the time because we found out he was a great cook, but she still had to make cookies. Iggy's just weren't the same…

I sat down in my now-usual spot next to Fang and waited patiently- okay, that's a total lie- for my food. I was on my third slice of deliciousness when Dr M walked in.

"Okay, guys, I've been off work for a week and more, but now… I actually have to go back. If there are _any_ explosions, a couple certain boys are going to get it. I expect minimal fighting, and certainly not the physical kind. Your teacher also doubles as kind of a babysitter, but Max is also co-in charge," she told us. What? I'm in charge? "I know that you scare them enough that they'll probably listen to you, if not her. Max- you have to be responsible. Don't abuse it." I gave her a deceiving nod; I was _so_ going to abuse this.

"Okay, she should be here soon- you all need to be respectful; she's very nice. Give her a chance. Ella and I will go as soon as she arrives."

We ate in quiet chatter and silence on Fang's and my part; about five minutes later, a white car pulled up in the driveway.

A young-looking woman got out, and she walked up our driveway and up to the door. Dr M opened it, and a she stepped inside. She had blonde hair and green eyes, and smiled warmly at us. "Hi, I'm Ms Dwyer. But you can call me Brigid."

"Brigid, these are the kids- I'm sure they'll introduce themselves," said Dr M, introducing us all and pointing at us.. "I would stay longer to make sure everything goes smoothly, but Ella's got to get to school, and…"

Brigid just waved a hand in dismissal. "We'll be okay- you go ahead. They seem like nice kids." I shot Fang a look at that, tilting my head ever so slightly towards Iggy and Gazzy. He gave me smirk in return.

Ella and her mom waved goodbyes as they walked out the door, and I think I caught something that sounded like "no killing, Max!" Well damn, because I had _so_ many people on my hit list…

Brigid turned to us, clapping her hands together. "Hi there!" she said brightly. Ugh… so perky… I think I'm gonna puke…

To my surprise, most of the other kids returned her hello. Even… Fang…? What? Okay, I know Fang (I think…) and he doesn't ever voluntarily say hi to people. Especially if he just met them, and they're so disgustingly happy.

"So I suppose we'll be using the table to study, correct?" she asked us, earning a lazy nod from me. Haha… I'm in charge… this feels good. "Okay then! I have your textbooks- some of you will have to share, except for Ariel. In fact… Monique, I know you're younger than Nick, James, Zephyr, and Maxine, but do you think you could-"

"Don't ever call me that," I snapped at her. "Look, _Brigid,_ the first thing you need to know about us is our real names. I'm Max. Call me anything else and there'll be hell to pay. He's Fang, they're Gazzy and Iggy, that's Nudge, and she's Angel. Got it?"

Brigid looked shocked for a moment, but then she composed herself. "Nicknames are fine, but Max, I do expect you to respect me."

"Then you came to the wrong place," I said coolly.

She just shook her head and turned away from me. "As I was saying, 'Nudge', could you study along with the older kids? I don't know how much you know, but…"

"ZOMG that's okay! I loooove science and I'm super good at math! I have to be, 'cause I hac-" she stopped herself at the last second. Yeah, I don't think Brigid knows that much about us… hell, if she knew what most of us had done, she'd be outta here like _that_.

She handed us our books; Nudge and I shared, as did Gazzy and Iggy. Fang got his own… of course. Brigid gave Angel something to read to 'test her knowledge' while she was teaching us- that girl will be done with that book in less than five minutes, I swear. She's damn smart.

I won't bore you with the details of how the rest of the day went- I'll give you the quick version. Anyway, Brigid kept batting her eyes at Fang- that pedo- and Fang ignored her. That's my boy!

Wait, what? Since when is he mine?

Gazzy and Iggy kept shooting spitballs at everyone, and I sent them to the corner, grinning and filled with an unholy glee at this new power of mine. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a maniac or anything, but… you know. Angel surprised Brigid with her smartness, and Nudge actually kept up with us. I took every possible chance to offend Brigid (but without going too overboard) and I think she hates me now! Well, that _was_ the desired outcome… We ate lunch, took a break, yada yada yada. Whatever.

But now, it's six 'o clock, and Brigid is in the kitchen with Dr M, telling her how the day went. I suspect that I am in mucho trouble… Almost immediately after Ella got home, she dragged Nudge up to her room, and sounds of a hushed conversation and demonic giggling rang through out the house. Those girls are planning something, and I am very, _very_ scared.

"Okay, guys, I'm taking off!" called Brigid cheerfully through the house. She got yelled goodbyes from upstairs- probably Nudge and Angel. Gazzy and Ig were downstairs, being brainwashed by a video game, and Fang was off being… Fang. Doing whatever he does. I waved goodbye at Brigid innocently, and she glared at me. I cocked my head to the side and gave her the who, moi? look. She shut the door behind her and walked out to the car. Oh, messing with her is such fun…

"MAXIMUM RIDE."

Oh, no.

"Yes, Dr M?" I said, feigning innocence once again.

"Don't you 'Dr M' me!"

"It wasn't me! It was Iggy!"

"Do you even know what you're blaming him for?"

"Maybe."

"Why did you treat Ms Dwyer like that?"

"Because she's a bitch…"

"Max, language! And anyway, just how is she a… that word?"

"She's too perky. And annoying."

"Really, Max? Perky and annoying? You have to have some legitimate reason!"

I pursed my lips. "Well… she's a pedo. She was hitting on Fang."

Suddenly, Dr M gave a small, knowing smile. "Oh, I see," she said. "You're jealous."

_What?_ "I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous? Of Brigid! And Fang is…. Fang! He's just-"

Dr M cut me off, waving her hand lazily. "I've seen this before. You are so jealous. But I agree, Brigid shouldn't be… acting like that. I'll speak to her."

"I. Am. Not. JEALOUS!"

"Don't deny it, Max, you totally are," piped up Ella. Wait, where did she come from? I whirled around and saw that I had an audience.

An audience that included Fang.

_CRAP._

I turned to give Dr M one last hopefully terrifying glare, and then shoved through the others and up to my room. I felt a pair of eyes on my back as I left; I knew it was Fang, by the way my skin felt like it was burning.

Ugh! I am not jealous! "Not jealous, not jealous, not jealous," I chanted under my breath, grabbing my iPod and flopping onto my bed. I swear, if anyone bothers me right now, I will bite their _freaking_ head off.

FangPOV

Yup. Max is so jealous.

I'm kind of freaked out now.

Anyway, I didn't even notice that Brigid was trying to flirt with me. The key word being 'trying'. But why would Max be…?

I'm just going to leave this subject right here in the Dark Corner Of Sass where I banish all my awkward thoughts.

Iggy was cooking again tonight- you know, it absolutely baffles me how he can be blind and cook. But I don't really care that much, as long as it tastes good- and it always does. Dr M called everyone down for dinner, and now we were all sitting at the table… except for Max.

"She's not coming down again," sighed Gazzy. "Oh well. More for me!"

Dr M rolled her eyes. "No, we should at least try to get her down here."

"Good luck with that," sniggered Iggy. "Wait! Maybe we could send Fangles to go get her."

I threw a piece of bread at him. "I'm glaring at you, Iggy. And anyway, no way in hell am I going up there."

"I think Fang is way over his word limit for the day," mused Ella. "But he's got a point. Max will definitely mutilate, if not kill, him."

"Try yelling at her," suggested Angel. "Like, from down here."

"Too many words," I grumbled.

"Do it… or… we'll set Max on you! We have our ways," threatened Ella. Beside her, Nudge nodded vigorously.

Damn them.

"MAX!" I yelled at the ceiling.

"WHAT?"

"GET DOWN HERE!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"COOKIES…"

"YOU LIE!"

"MAYBE."

"WHY SHOULD I, ANYWAY?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE BEING IMMATURE ABOUT THIS."

"WHAT. DID. YOU. JUST. CALL. ME?"

"UM…. IMMATURE?"

Ella looked at me with a horrified expression. "Fang! If you want to live, do exactly as I say! In my room, behind the Justin Bieber poster, there's a piece of paper with my cousin Rico's address on it! He lives in Guatemala! Find him, and he'll give you a key to a bunker in China where you can hide until she calms down! Run for the hills, Fang, _run for the hills_!"

"OKAY, I'LL COME DOWNSTAIRS! BUT YOU'RE GONNA WISH I HADN'T!"

I'm screwed.

"MAX, IF YOU KILL HIM, THERE WILL BE NO COOKIES EVER AGAIN!" Or not. Huzzah for Dr M.

Silence.

"FINE! BUT I'M STAYING UP HERE!"

"Well, we tried," said Iggy, shrugging. "Oh well."

"Will you all shut up so I can say something?" demanded Nudge.

"Go ahead," said Dr M warily. "But maybe Ella should do the talking…"

"Well, Nudge and I were thinking-"

"REALLY?"

"Shut it, Gazzy! Anyway, we were thinking that maybe we could have a-"

"SLEEPOVER!" shrieked Nudge. I covered my ears. Ouch…

"I see two problems with that: One, none of us have any friends, except for Ella, and two, Max hates people. Fang hates people. They'd be scared away by their death glares before we even got to meet them," said Iggy.

"Well duh! It can be just us! We don't have to invite anyone, we can all just sleep in the basement together, and watch movies and stay up all night and-" Angel finally slapped a hand over Nudge's mouth.

"I'm out," I said firmly. "No way."

Dr M shrugged. "If the other kids will agree, I don't care."

Iggy and Gazzy shook their heads simultaneously. But then…

"Fang, please?" begged Nudge, Angel and Ella, putting on the bambi eyes.

"No… don't… wanna…. Oh, fine!" I grumbled. Damn them! This was not going to end well, I know it.

Gazzy was roped in by the extreme unholy power of the cuteness, and since Iggy's blind, Ella just put her hand on his arm and used a seductive voice (not to me, but Iggy liked it… just… EW) to ask him again, and he was a goner.

And now… Max is the only one left. She's outnumbered, six to one.

Oh, God. I can't wait to see how she takes this…

**Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was on vacation!**

**Anyway. Don't worry, this sleepover will NOT be cliché. There won't be Truth or Dare. There won't be stupid pranks. There won't be the classic Max-and-Fang-fall-asleep-together. It's actually gonna be damn important to the plot. So don't be a hater.**

**Fang: But if we played ToD, I could kiss Max…**

**Me: Are you freaking _serious?_**

**Fang: … Yup. ****As long as I get to make out with some hot chicks, I'm good.**

**Me: You man whore. I'm telling Max.**

**Fang: Screw you.**

**-Sierra**


	6. Break A Leg

**Hey Fang! Get over here!**

**Fang: What is it?**

**Me: We have a visitor! Dark-Angel6212!**

**Dark-Angel: Hey guys!**

**Me: Okay, go ahead now.**

**Dark-Angel: -slaps Fang and runs away-**

**Fang: Grr….**

**Me: Hey, she requested it, so I did it. Reviews get you this kind of access... hint hint. Cough cough, wink wink.**

MaxPOV

"Please?"

"Did Max just say _please_? THE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH!" shrieked Nudge.

"But I _really_ don't want to do this!"

"Too bad! You're outnumbered!" yelled Ella. She and Nudge were _still_ trying to get me to go to that damned sleepover!

"Pleaaaasssseeee, Max?" begged Nudge, "Fang's going..."

I stared. "You roped him into this?"

"Yup," said Ella casually. "It wasn't too hard, really. Pretty sure he was in a better mood than usual."

"If I do this, will you leave me alone and not make me do something like this ever again?"

"We swear," Ella and Nudge agreed in unison.

"You two are officially the most evil children I have ever met." I buried my face in my pillow and groaned, knowing I had doomed myself by giving in.

"I take that as a yes! YAY!"

"Now leave me to my last minutes of happiness in this life!"

"It's not gonna be that bad, Max…" I heard them finally leave to go finish setting up the torture chamber, also known as the basement.

Why did they even want to have a sleepover? Just… WHY? What's the _point_ of it? What do you even _do_ there?

I guess I have to find out… I sighed, got up, and grudgingly walked to the basement.

* * *

><p>TWO HOURS.<p>

IT'S BEEN _TWO HOURS._

The only thing keeping me sane is Fang, not surprisingly. We're on different sides of the room; Ella made us sit there because she said that us together would be 'too much killjoy in one place for the world to handle', earning her some Death Glares of Total and Utter Doom & Destruction.

She didn't even flinch.

Here we are, having mind conversations. I'll make a face of some sort, like, _Can you believe they got us to do this?_ And he'll reply with _Actually, yeah. Freaking Bambi eyes_. I'll nod sympathetically, and we'll just sit there for the next five minutes, doing nothing but watch Ella, Nudge, and Angel squeal over some song that came on the radio, and since Gazzy and Iggy hadn't been sentenced to Fang's and my treatment, they were off in a corner hunched over something explosive. I'll have to confiscate it later…

Yeah, I do mean _I_ will. Me. Dr M just doesn't notice it when they're up to something, so I... discipline them. You could call it that. (And by discipline, I mean punch and harm them in other ways if they try to explode something.) Iggy actually called me 'mom' once- I punched him in the face. Almost broke his nose. Stupid 'almosts'…

"Can I _please_ leave now?" I begged.

"Max. The first time you asked, we said no. The second time you asked, we said no. This is now the sixteenth time. And we're still saying no," said Ella firmly.

"It hasn't been sixte-" I started to protest.

"Yes it has!" piped Angel. "Ella's keeping track!" She held up a piece of paper, and sure enough, there were sixteen black marks on it, all in a neat row.

"Damn, I'm stubborn," I said, a little amazed at my own persistency.

"You could say that."

"Shut it, Fang."

"HEY GUYS, I'M GOING TO GO PICK UP THE PIZZA!" yelled Dr M from upstairs. Pizza? I can deal with that.

"PIIIZZZZAAAAA!" bellowed the twins.

Ella and Nudge rolled their eyes and shouted at the same time, "OKAY! BYE!" We heard a door slam- Dr M was gone.

"You hear that, Max? Pizza. Are you gonna stop whining now?" asked Iggy, amused.

"You're asking for a miracle, Ig," said Fang, looking right at me and smirking. I flipped him the bird.

"Oh, I forgot about the soda! I was supposed to go get that a while ago!" exclaimed Nudge. "I'll be right back, it's just in the fridge upstairs." She took the stairs two at a time, and I watched her leave. (How does she do that? I never pegged her as the athletic type, but damn, is she fast.)

"Fang! We might be able to escape!" I whispered urgently. He nodded so slightly I almost didn't see it, and I got slowly to my feet.

"Sit back down, Max," warned Ella, her back still turned. "I see you."

HOW? Just… HOW? I settled for glowering at her, even though she couldn't see it.

And suddenly, I heard a thunk, a crash, and an earsplitting scream. And another one. And another one. I whipped around.

There was Nudge, passed out on the ground.

_With her bone sticking out of her leg._

That is _not_ natural.

"OH MY GOD, NUDGE!"

"WHAT DO WE DO?"

"CALL THE POLICE!"

"CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!"

"NO, YOU IDIOTS, CALL 911!"

"CALL THE PIZZA PLACE!"

"WHAT?"

"EVERYONE _SHUT UP_!" I roared, trying to get things under control. They all did as I said, looking to me for instructions. "Fang was right, call 911! Ella, you do that on the home phone, and give me your cell! I'll call your mom!" She threw a shiny object at me, and I caught it while she ran to the other phone. "Fang, Gazzy, try to pick Nudge up and get her up the stairs!"

"Sorry, Nudge, but this is really gonna hurt," apologized Gazzy to her unconscious form. I flipped the cell phone open, hitting the speed dial button for Dr M. Ella had trained me how to use this thing, in case I ever got one.

"Max? Is everything all right?"

"Nudge fell down the stairs! Just... hurry and get home! Ella's calling 911!" I said, all in one breath. I'm turning into Nudge... minus the broken leg.

"Hold on, I'm almost home," she promised, and hung up. I heard sirens in the distance, hopefully heading our way.

* * *

><p>FangPOV<p>

It's been hours since Nudge fell down the stairs- God, that girl is a klutz. But let me tell you, it was a pretty weird sight- her leg was just gross to look at, but it's all stitched up and in a cast now. Everything back where it's supposed to be… I almost shuddered, remembering the sight. She had a minor head injury- but no internal bleeding or anything, so now she's sleeping, and we know that she can without going into a coma. She might have to be here in the hospital for a few more days, though.

"That was kinda scary," murmured Max, next to me. We were all waiting outside while Dr M discussed… things… with the doctor, like how long Nudge would have to stay, the medical bill, and other things I don't really understand or care about.

"Yeah." I watched her face, following her gaze to a little boy and his mother. The boy had dark brown hair and eyes the same color- and Max was sort of stalking his every move. "Hey, I think you're creeping his mom out," I told her softly, nudging her a little.

"Huh? Oh… um… you didn't see that," she said awkwardly.

"Yes I did. You're hiding something."

"So are you."

"Touché."

Silence.

"You wanna tell me?" I asked her quietly.

"Nah."

"You are _impossible_."

"I take pride in it."

"Hey guys, we can go home now. Nudge is probably gonna have to stay here for a couple more days, and she'll be in a cast for a long time," said Dr M wearily, walking in. "Let's go."

Must I say that the sleepover was called off? I'm glad for that, but not for the whole Nudge thing.

For the rest of the night, Max was more reserved and quiet than usual- I think it had something to do with the little boy she saw. And I can't even take a guess at what it is, because thanks to Max herself, I know_ nothing_ about her.

I hate to see her like this, knowing she's hurting and that I can't do a thing about it. Why am I suddenly so protective?

_Um, remember Maya? You twin sister who is now dead that looks just like Max? You think that has something to do with it?_

I would say shut up, but I'm talking to myself, so that wouldn't exactly work out. So I turned off my lamp and rolled over, still bothered even in my sleep about what I'd seen in Max's eyes.

**Fang: She did tell you guys it wouldn't be cliché.**

**Me: Yup. I don't think ANY of you were expecting that, though. I'm so evil. **

**Fang: So.**

**Me: So.**

**Fang: So…**

**Me: Sooooo…**

**Fang: We should go now.**

**Me: Yeah, but I'm bored and I wanna make this A/N go on forever…**

**Fang: Just… shut up.**

**Me: Fine. Bye, my lovely reviewers! Now do what you do best and REVIEW!**

**-Sierra**


	7. 80's Music

**You guys are amazing. Thanks so much for keeping me going.**

**Now for business!**

**Some people thought that It would be weird for Fang to crush on Max, y'know, what with Maya the twin sister and all. Well, I'd like to clear that up this chapter! Point out some differences I should've made clear before.**

**Fang: Hey! You cluttered up my emo corner! Where am I supposed to go and be all dark and sad that I can't make out with Max all the time now?**

**Me: Well, there's always the Dark Corner Of Sass…**

**Fang: No. NO. Remember that one mental image we put there? The one with-**

**Me: Shh. It's a secret. Anyway, Slight Fax and Eggy this chapter! Read now, or die a painful death.**

FangPOV

I looked up as my door flew open, and there was Max, looking thoroughly pissed. I hope it's not at me… "What did I do this time?" I asked, confused.

She shut the door behind her and came over to sit on my bed. "I can't take this anymore!" she growled. "Not _knowing._ Who _was_ she? Dammit, Fang, I need to find out."

Well, this is awkward. Why does she want to know so badly?

"Give me one reason why I should tell you anything," I said calmly, keeping my expression blank, as always. I knew who she wanted to know about.

"Because… I'll make you a trade. Secret for a secret." For a moment, I thought I saw a smug smile on her face- and something almost… devious? Huh.

"You have me there," I said, shrugging. Max couldn't even guess how much I wanted to know about her- so I guess I'm a hypocrite, then.

"But one thing- you have to go first," she said firmly. I'm suspicious now.

"Wh-"

_"Do it."_

I know that tone; it's the _you will regret not doing exactly as I say_ tone. I closed my eyes and began, my voice almost inaudible. She never said I had to make it easy for her.

"Maya was my sister. My twin sister." I felt a sad half-smile cross my face at the memory of her, her laugh and her smile. "She was… always there. Always. She brought me back down to earth when I needed it."

I opened my eyes then, seeing Max's intrigued face, er eyes looking softer than usual. "She looked a lot like you, you know," I continued quietly. "But there's… changes, when you look from her face to yours." My hand reached out and touched the smooth skin of Max's face, sweeping the hair out of her eyes. "Your eyes, for one. Hers were green, and yours are... brown," I murmured. There was so much more to Max's eyes than just 'brown'. "Your noses; yours is a little crooked, like someone broke it a few times." My fingers lightly brushed said nose, feeling the little imperfections that were, undoubtedly, there. And what surprised me was that she _let_ me touch her.

"I can't say that didn't happen," she agreed softly.

"And don't even get me started on the personalities," I said, withdrawing my hand and suddenly smirking. "You're _everything_ she's not. Poor girl couldn't throw a punch for her life. Sarcasm? She wasn't the best at it."

"How did she d-"

"I think it's your turn now," I said, cutting her off, my voice suddenly cold. That was _not_ something I was ready to discuss with her yet. She looked a little bit shocked, but then she put up the wall again, the one in her eyes it was impossible to see past.

"Well then," she whispered, leaning a little bit closer. "My secret is… I have a deep hatred for 80's music!" She jumped up and ran out of the room.

"_MAX!_" I yelled, my voice black with fury, bolting after her. _Seriously?_

"I NEVER TOLD YOU WHAT IT WAS ABOUT, ONLY THAT IT WAS A SECRET!"

"YOU. ARE. GOING. TO. _PAY!_"

IggyPOV

Current status of the household:

Max and Fang? Locked in their rooms by Dr Martinez. Mostly for Max's safety. What happened, we don't know- they won't tell us, but Fang is absolutely _furious_ with Max. We keep hearing random crashes from his room.

Gazzy and Angel? Gazzy's probably corrupting her mind with his evil, evil schemes. Not saying that I'm not guilty oft he same crime, but...

Ella is upstairs, tending to…_ It_. And I have to cook_ It_ lunch.

You see, ever since Nudge freaking_ tripped_ and fell down the stairs a few days ago, she has become a bitchy monster who can't do anything for herself. She hates being stuck in bed most of the time, except for when we have 'school.' (Speaking of that, Max the Totally Jealous and In Denial is going to snap any day now. Brigid had better watch out.)

So here I am, in the kitchen, making her a grilled cheese and tomato soup. Luckily for me, Ella gets most of her random demands, like juice. So I don't have to go traipsing up and down the stairs.

Suddenly, my head came in contact with the extremely hard corner of the cabinet door. I tried not to yell in pain- that _really_ hurt. So I settled for cursing under my breath, profanities that would have Angel scarred for life if she heard them.

If I wasn't blind, I would've been able too see that coming. If it weren't for my parents, I would still be able to see.

You know how my parents were both insane crackheads? And when I say insane, I mean literally insane. Just… evil. They did bad things when they were high, or drunk. Really bad. They abused us sometimes, and one time, I took a hit for Angel- they were mad because she broke something accidentally- and they got so pissed at me, you know what they did? _You know what they did?_

They freaking spiked my drink with methanol. **(I did my homework on this one... This could actually happen.)**

Methylated alcohol- yes, I can pronounce these fancy words, pyros have to know their chemicals- has methanol in it. As little as ten _milliliters_ of that stuff will make you blind- and a hundred can be fatal. They just got a hold of the water I happened to be drinking at the time.

The toxic effects can take a few hours to start, so I didn't notice right away. I knew that my water tasted funny, but it looked fine- methanol is clear, you know. And besides, we didn't exactly have the best drinking water, being poor, so it always tasted a little off.

But hours later, I was fully blind. I couldn't see a thing. I knew it was them. Who else? If I'd been older at the time, I wouldn't have drunk the water. Probably. But at the time, I was only ten, as was Gazzy- Ange was four. Four years old.

I made sure she would never know what happened. She'd blame herself, I knew.

Anyway.

"Hey Ig," sighed Ella, walking into the kitchen as I cooked. "She wants _another_ Cola. How can she even drink this much?"

I was pulled out of my reverie by her voice. "Oh, um, hey," I stuttered. "I guess she's just… Nudge. How can she _talk_ that fast is my question."

We were both awkwardly silent as she rummaged around in the fridge. "Damn, we're all out," she groaned. "Nudge isn't gonna be happy." I suddenly felt a pair of eyes trained on me. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah… I… I'm fine," I mumbled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

I heard her quick, light footsteps head my way, and suddenly felt a reassuring squeeze on my hand. Ella's skin was soft, really soft to my sensitive touch.

And all of a sudden, the warmth was gone, and she was leaving. "Don't think about it too hard, whatever it is," she called back to me. I just stood there in shock.

You know, Ella isn't half bad...

ThirdPersonPOV

"Where's the damn information?" the man growled, a shadow from his hood falling across his face so that you couldn't see his eyes or nose.

His associate scuttled back at his tone. "Sorry, boss! I tried, but-"

"I _need_ that kid's file!" the hooded man spat. "You've disappointed me for the last time, Donovan." And with that, he stepped forward and had a knife at the other's throat in a second.

"No! Please! I-" the weaker man was cut off as the blade plunged into his skin.

The hooded man gave a twisted smile, throwing the body to the ground. He would get this kid, no matter how many lives he had to go through first.

What he started, he always finished. Always.

**And Sam returns! Oooh, scary. I hoped you guys liked that 'lil bit of Eggy there.**

**But what I really want to know is, when Max find out Fang's secret? I want to do it soon, but I feel like I'm rushing this so let me know!**

**Fang: Now get out of here and review.**

**Me: Hey, I need them to love me- don't be rude. But please review. **

**-Sierra**


	8. Payback

**Today, we have a very special visitor; a good friend of mine.**

**Fang: Not another one… is she gonna slap me?**

**Me: Who said anything about a she? Hey Fowl! Max! Get in here!**

**Fowlmaniac: Hey.**

**Max: -peeks in door- Hmm… no Erasers, but… Fang! (Fowlmaniac did, indeed, kidnap Max.)**

**Fang: Max! -drags her off to go... make out or something-**

**Me: Shoot me now.**

**Fowlmaniac: Right behind ya.**

**Me: Or we could play some My Chemical Romance… While eating bacon… Shall we?**

**Fowlmaniac: We shall. Anything to get away from… this… -gestures to Max and Fang, making out in a corner-**

**Me: Oh, those hormonal little children. –snaps fingers and disappears with Fowlmaniac-**

**Go check out his stories; they're awesome.**

FangPOV

A few hours later, I was still fuming with anger and locked in my room. I was _beyond_ pissed at Max- I freaking told her all that and she _tricked_ me. And I was stupid enough to fall for it! I will have my revenge. I WILL.

I'd stopped taking my anger out on random items in my room a couple hours ago, now spending time on plotting against Max. So far, I had about twenty-three plans that would mortally wound her, most of them involving things I didn't have access to, like an army of angry narwhals, a flamethrower, approximately seventeen orange sheep, and thirty pounds of bacon.

I'm _such_ a great strategist, I know.

Suddenly, I heard whispering outside my door. "Do you think it's safe to let him out now?" someone asked in a hushed tone. Gazzy? "I wouldn't bet on it," Iggy muttered. "Hush, boys, he'll hear you!" hissed Dr M.

"Hey Fang?" she called through my door. When I didn't respond, she continued. "I'm going to let you out now. Are you going to hurt Max?"

I was silent. I think if I talked, some very bad things would come out.

"Fang, whatever she did, it can't be that bad." _Oh, really? What do YOU know, Dr M?_ "Just please, don't kill/mortally wound her." Why does it feel like she's said that to me before?

"I make no promises," I said, finally responding.

"Close enough," she sighed, and my door creaked open.

Gazzy poked his head in, looking at me warily. "He looks relatively calm," he told them, keeping his eye on me the whole time as I walked to my open door.

"Max is in her room, and she's probably going to be there for while, until we're sure that an encounter with you will leave her relatively unscathed and alive," warned Dr Martinez. I shrugged. it was probably a good idea- for Max. Now I, on the other hand, would like nothing more than to have an 'encounter' with her.

I pushed past them and went downstairs, into the kitchen- it had been a couple hours since I'd eaten anything, and I was pretty sure I'd missed dinner.

I found some leftover bacon in the fridge, probably from breakfast this morning. That made me wonder who in their right minds hadn't eaten the last pieces of bacon. I mean… it's.. it's_ bacon_. It's like meat candy. Sex in your mouth. Rainbows and fairies and Emma Watson. How can you_not_ devour all of it on sight?

As I was eating the food of the gods, which seemed to have calmed me just a little, Dr M walked in, a phone pressed to her ear. "Yes… Mmm-hmm. Thursday? That would be fine, ma'am…" She cupped her hand over the receiver. "Fang, can you write this address down for me?" I nodded and got a notepad and pen. "6213 North-"

She was interrupted as someone ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Hey Dr M, I know I probably shouldn't be down here, but I'm a little hungry, so…"

Max.

The pen I was writing with snapped in my hand, the ink getting all over me- ha, lucky for me it blends into my clothes- and the paper. I raised my head slowly and gave her such a glare that I think she actually flinched.

"Sorry, ma'am, can you give me a minute?" said Dr M into the phone. "Thanks. I'll be right with you." She set the phone down. "Fang. Think calming thoughts. Calm. Deep breaths. Kittens. Bunnies."

My hands curled into fists, nails digging into my palm, knuckles white. "Go," I hissed through clenched teeth. "Before I do something I _definitely_ won't regret." Max nodded, the fear apparent in her eyes, and bolted.

Cool. I actually scared the great Maximum Ride.

"I'm very impressed," approved Dr M. "You handled that well."

"Don't count on it lasting," I seethed. I left the kitchen and stalked upstairs to the twin's room.

"Fangles, what brings you here?" asked Gazzy in a strange, deep voice. What the hell? Why Fangles? WHY?

"Never, ever call me that again," I said in a deadly tone. "Not if you want to live."

"Right," muttered Iggy, rolling his unseeing eyes. "So, what do you want?"

I smiled wickedly. "I want revenge."

"Oh, you have indeed come to the right place."

MaxPOV

If I had a list of near-death experiences, I would have jotted what just happened right down. Because the expression on Fang's face was absolutely _murderous._

I'm kinda ashamed that I let him see that I was afraid- but seriously, it was downright scary! Maybe I shouldn't have done that. But did you seriously think I was gonna tell him anything? I feel a little bad, because he did tell me something about his past- and I know that can't have been easy. I mean, dead sister and all that jazz. But I still know nothing about his parents, his life before this, how he lost his family. Nothing. Zip. Nada.

Oh, god. I need to eat a cookie/beat something up before I turn into a pile of mushy feelings…

FangPOV

The next morning, Gazzy, Iggy, and I were putting our plan into action. I can't freaking _wait_ to see the look on Max's face…

"All right, men, let's go over the WMDs," ordered Iggy, trying and failing to act like a guy in the army. "Weapons of Max Destruction. Gazzy, do you have the eggs, bucket, and tarp?"

"Right here," he confirmed, pointing to a large black duffel bag.

"And Fang… you have Dr M's old Polaroid?"

I let a grin flit across my face. "Yeah." You may be wondering 'how did we obtain these items?' Well, I got the camera with my ninja skills- we need a Polaroid specifically, or it wouldn't work. And the eggs, bucket, and tarp? Gazzy retrieved those from the garage and kitchen.

"Excellent. And I've got the rope, so Operation Help Fang Out With His Revenge Because He's Too Pathetic To Plan His Own is good to go! Move out!"

It was still about seven thirty, the time that Max got in the shower every day. We snuck out of the twin's room and into hers; the water was already running, so she wouldn't be able to hear what we were doing.

"First phase of Operation H.F.O.W.H.R.B.H.T.P.T.P.H.O. is in action! Go, soldier, go! _Be_ the ninja. Let your ninja essence consume you," Iggy urged me. I rolled my eyes and silently made my way to Max and Ella's bathroom door, which was connected to both of their rooms.

I opened the door slowly, really slowly, making sure it didn't creak. I smirked to myself, crouching down; Max didn't hear a thing. Then, I looked around for a minute until I spotted my objective, lying on the counter; the neatly folded pile of Max's clothes. Huh. Note the 'neatly folded' bit- Max was _not_ normally neat; Ella must have come in here and folded them.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Max suddenly called. I froze, the clothes in my arms and praying that she wouldn't stick her head out and see me. When there was silence, she said "Ookay," to herself, and I exhaled- quietly, of course.

I exited the bathroom, triumphant. Gazzy looked at me with wide eyes and poked Iggy's side. "General Sexy Beast! Lieutenant Bubbles The Rainbow Huggy Bear has the package! I repeat, _he has the package!"_

I raised an eyebrow. "He gets Sexy Beast, and I get Bubbles the freaking_ Rainbow Huggy Bear?"_

Iggy nodded confidently. "You know it's true. Both of them."

"I'm rolling my eyes, Ig."

"Whatever. Anyway, now that you have the package, Phase Two of Operation H.F.O.W.H.R.B.H.T.P.T.P.H.O. can commence!" Nice acronym, Iggy...

And five minutes later, Max was still in the shower, surprisingly not noticing a thing. We had the trap all set up- classic bucket over the doorway prank. I'm gonna knock on her door and tell her that I took her clothes, effectively pissing her off; she grabs a towel and runs out to unleash her wrath on us. When she opens it, a dozen raw eggs will come crashing down on her. We spread out the tarp to catch the extra eggyness **(HAHA)** so Dr M wouldn't murder us for getting it all over the floor.

"We ready to go?" whispered Gazzy. Iggy and I nodded silently. "Okay… and in three… two… ONE!"

I sprang up form my spot and ran across the room, stealth not a necessity now. I rapped on the door. "Who is it?" yelled Max.

"Hey Max!" I said, raising my voice so that she could hear me over the water. "Notice anything missing?"

"Fang? What are you- Oh, you did _not_."

"Didn't I?"

I heard an enraged shriek from the other side of the door, and bolted back to where the twins were. "Hurry, she'll be on us in a few seconds! Get in position!" Gazzy grabbed the camera, and Iggy and I leaned against the wall to watch, and on Iggy's part, listen. We weren't worried about running; if Max was smart- and she was- she wouldn't step off the tarp, because the floor would get_ really_ dirty.

Then again, she may run after us in a blind rage...

And all of a sudden, the door flew open and Max stepped out, a towel wrapped tightly around her.

Big mistake.

The eggs crashed down on her, breaking on contact and coating her with their slimy insides. She gave another shriek of rage as Gazzy snapped picture after picture, and Iggy and I doubled over, howling with laughter. I know, it's not like me, but it was just so damn _funny._

"YOU GUYS ARE ABSOLUTELY _DEAD!_" she shrieked. You could practically see the flames erupting around her, her skin turning red, a pitchfork appearing in her hand.

"What is going _on_ in here?" Dr Martinez yelled, bursting into the room, everyone else but Nudge right behind her.

"You told… you told me not to… to kill her…" I managed between gasps for air, clutching my sides. "So I didn't…"

"Well, now I have to kill YOU!" Max raged.

"Now, now, this was only payback," I said, shaking my head, smirking, and finally able to breathe.

"I can't believe this," muttered Dr M. "Max… Just… go and take another shower. Iggy, Fang, Gazzy, I want this all cleaned up in the next hour. You'll probably have to miss a few lessons with Brigid." Max disappeared into the bathroom, and we could hear her stomping around angrily. "And boys? Give me the pictures. Now."

Iggy gasped dramatically. "Not after all our hard work!" he begged, only earning us all a glare.

Gazzy turned to me, a determined expression on his face. "Fang," he whispered slowly. "When I say run, _run_. Hide the pictures somewhere safe."

"What are you going to d-"

I was cut off as he stuffed the pictures _down my pants_ and yelled, "RUN!" I did as he said, pushing past Dr M, Ella, and Angel.

* * *

><p>It's been a day since we pranked Max.<p>

After that happened, Iggy, Gazzy, and I needed ice packs in more places than we can count. Let's just say that we'll be black and blue for a long time and spare you the literally gory details.

Max, the twins, and I are all grounded for a week.

Joy.

Max is grounded for injuring us so badly and cussing incessantly while beating us into pulps. I'm not as pissed as I was at her earlier, because I got my revenge. But right after it she pummeled me, so it doesn't count as even. She thinks I should thank her, though, because I got excused from homework when she broke three of my fingers. Yup, that happened, and it hurt like hell. The twins, on the other hand, came out with no broken bones, mostly because it was my idea to do anything to Max in the first place.

The pictures were safe; at least, some of them were. Dr M thought I gave all of them to her, (but I didn't) and Max burned the ones they got a hold of. Yes, she literally did- she got Iggy's matches and watched them burn. Nudge was upset that she didn't get to see what Max looked like, and Gazzy felt a little sorry for her, so we let her look at some of the pictures after making her promise not to tell anyone that they existed. I just hope she can actually keep a secret- if not any other, just this one….

**There you go! Don't worry, there will be more drama and stuff next chapter, but Fang REALLY wanted to get revenge on Max.**

**So I was talking on Cleverbot last night (you know, the talking internet robot. I have no life...) and it said some things to me, like:**

**Cleverbot: Are you a ninja unicorn?**

**Me: HELL YES I AM.**

**Me: I like bacon.**

**CB: I love bacon. Let's be friends.**

**Legit, it said that.**

**-Sierra**


	9. Forgiven

**MAXIMUMRIDELUVER, YOU LITTLE ANONYMOUS READER YOU.**

**I wish I could PM you to discuss things you've said in your reviews… but I can't. Make an account, maybe? **

**Onto other things!**

**Okay… I have no other things. No random A/N today, Fang got a hold of the NyQuil and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't put any of what he's saying on here, as all it is is pretty much every perverted thing Iggy's told him. Of course, I know them all, sadly, because of my older brother. My childhood was ruined by third grade.**

**I own nothing! Except for the imaginary bacon…**

MaxPOV

"Max?" came a voice and a knock on my door. Dr M?

"Go away."

"Why?"

"Because you took my iPod, and now I hate you."

"It's only for a week, and you broke three of Fang's fingers!"

"Touché. Come in, I guess," I sighed. It's not like I had anything better to do- it was raining outside, Fang hates me, Nudge and Angel are decorating Nudge's cast, Gazzy is doing something devious, and Iggy and Ella are… somewhere. So here I am, lying on my bed, doing absolutely nothing.

I sat up to make room for Dr M on the bed, and she took a seat. "What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well, I just wanted to know _why_ you and Fang aren't speaking- neither of you ever explained it. When you guys aren't about to kill each other, which is nearly all the time, you're a very twisted form of friends," she said, shrugging.

I flopped backwards, staring up at the ceiling again. "Yeah, a strange, extremely twisted form. He won't talk to me… because."

"Because why?"

Ah. We meet again, the most annoying question in the world. "Because… I messed up, and I can't fix it."

"How did you mess up?" she asked. "And why can't you fix it?"

I sat up to look at her then, propping myself up on my elbows. "I made a promise I couldn't keep. Well, technically, I didn't promise, but… it's about as important as a promise."

Dr M half-smiled. "That's all it is? Well, actually, I guess I shouldn't say that, because knowing you two, anything is a big deal. But _how_ many times have you guys tried to kill each other so far, including now?"

"Um… Seven?"

"And _how_ many times have you- sort of- made up?"

"Six… but he's never gonna forgive me." I rolled over, facing away from her and staring to the side. "Not unless I do something that I _can't_ do." Like telling him an actual secret.

"It would be a lot easier if you told me what happened."

"Then I guess it's not gonna be 'a lot easier'," I said dryly.

"Have you maybe tried apologizing?" she suggested.

"Are you kidding me? I've lived with you for a month and a half, and you still don't know me at all."

"You'd be surprised how much I _do_ know, Max," said Dr M softly. She got up then and left, shutting the door behind her and leaving me STILL clueless on what to do.

And what do I do when all hope is lost?

Eat bacon, of course.

I got up and walked slowly down the stairs to the kitchen, where I could hear sounds of Ella giggling and _ugh_- flirting- with Iggy. Poor guy was oblivious to it, though.

"Hey Ig, where's the bacon?" I asked him curiously, rummaging through the fridge. "I can't find it."

"Um, I don't know. I actually think Fang ate the last of it… wait. We're out of bacon. Ella, _when is Dr M going to the store next?"_

"Whoa, guys, calm down," Ella soothed. "It's just bacon, and besides, my mom's gonna go to the store soon." Oh, thank God.

"_Just bacon,_" Iggy grumbled under his breath, shaking his head before continuing his conversation with Ella. I sauntered over to them, as they were standing right by the plate of cupcakes Iggy just made. Mmmm… chocolate…

What is it with me and my need for unhealthy food right now?

I took the last one with sprinkles- all the others were plain. But then, Iggy spoke up. "Max, does that cupcake you're holding have sprinkles on it?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked, confused.

"I need that cupcake," he said slowly. "It's mine. Hand it over."

"Um, no. I'm holding it; it's mine now."

"Max, you don't understand!_ I need that cupcake! _It's the only one with sprinkles- it's like having a rainbow inside of me!"

I just gave him a strange look at that last comment (which was lost on him, of course) and then took a big bite. He groaned. "She just took a bite, didn't she?"

"Yup," Ella confirmed. "And now she's _done_. Five seconds flat! I think it's a record!"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I'm leaving now. Have _fun,_ Ella!" I called over my shoulder, making her blush furiously, while Iggy just looked confused.

That boy is so clueless…

And then I ran into a brick wall.

Well, I thought it was a brick wall. Until it fell over. And breathed. Also, I'm pretty sure walls don't have eyes.

"Well this is awkward," I whispered. Fang just nodded, You see, I was sort of… on top of him. As in straddling.

I was frozen like that for a few more seconds, contemplating what I should do, y'know, because he's sort of furious with me- STILL- but then he spoke. "Would you mind getting off me?"

"Um," was my oh-so-clever response. "I… um... well… I'm kinda… I'm sorr-"

"Well, well, isn't this interesting," came Gazzy's voice out of nowhere, filled with an unholy glee.

Dear karma: You're a bitch.

I was off Fang and locked in the refuge of my room so fast I'm pretty sure I was a blur. Why is it that whenever I'm embarrassed- no, _mortified_- it always has something to do with Fang? ALWAYS?

Although Gazzy did save me from apologizing…

FangPOV

I just kinda laid there, staring at Gazzy, who was doubled over in laughter. Why, I'm not really sure- there is something seriously wrong with that child.

"Your… face…" he managed between gasps for breath. "Priceless…"

My fists clenched, and I finally stood. "Tell anyone, and you're dead meat," I growled.

"Okay. I won't tell anyone. But Nudge doesn't count as a person, because there's so many things wrong with her!" He ran off up the stairs, knowing that it would drive me insane- Nudge would definitely tell everyone in the freaking house.

Oh well. It's not my fault Max tackled me to the ground and proceeded to stay there… Which reminds me, what was she gonna say? I couldn't figure it out, no matter how many times I went over the scenario in my head. I groaned in confusion and flopped onto the couch, taking it all up, and my feet still hung off the edge… yep. I'm just _that_ tall.

"Hey Fang," giggled Angel. "So I was in Nudge's room, and then my brother ran in and told us the most interesting story…"

"Go away, demon child. The power of bacon compels you."

"Nope," she sang, plopping down onto my legs. What is it with people and sitting on me today?

"Get off me," I growled.

"What, do you need more room for Max?" she teased, and then collapsed into a heap of giggles. I sat up and glared at her, not throwing her off me like I wish I could- Ig and Gaz would kill me if I hurt their little sister.

Just then, Ella walked in and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now I'm pretty sure Fang has a fetish for being sat on…"

Okay. That's freaking _enough_. I lifted Angel in the air, surprising her, stood up, and set her down. I then walked over to the wall and banged my head on it repeatedly. "Why me?" I muttered under my breath. "Why, why, _why_?"

"Hey Ella, is Fang having another FML moment?" called Iggy from the kitchen.

"Yup," she called back, smirking. "He's our little drama queen."

Kill me now.

* * *

><p>Late that night, when everyone else was asleep, I was <em>still<em> awake, being insanely thirsty but too lazy/tired to get up and get a drink. It was like a little war in my head, with tiny little soldiers and everything…

Hey, don't hold me accountable for what I'm thinking at two in the morning.

But eventually, the I'm-going-to-die-if-I-don't-get-some-water side won through, and I grudgingly stood, walking past the twin's room (where I could hear insanely loud snores form the both of them), Angel's (silence), and Nudge's (I distinctly heard 'ponies!'). The last rooms in the hallway were Max's and Ella's, right before you get to the stairs.

And as I was passing Max's, I heard... talking? Who could Max possibly be talking to? Unless…

Max talks in her sleep.

Okay, I can't miss this.

I slowly turned the doorknob and stepped inside, completely forgetting my thirst- but I really, really didn't expect to see what I saw.

Max lying on her stomach in the middle of her bed, the sheets a mess around her, shaking a little, and… crying?

In her sleep?

Now _that_ is a bad dream, if it makes _Max_ cry.

I crept cautiously over to the bed and sat down close to Max. She was mumbling something in her sleep… it sounded like "No. No… not him… me. Please! Run!" I wondered if I should wake her up. I decided not to, and instead, I reached out, uneasy and awkward, and gently rubbed her back, between her shoulder blades- something I used on Maya when she had bad dreams, or was upset. But there was something strange about Max's back- I could feel weird, long, bumps under her t-shirt, almost in a pattern. They were everywhere, from the base of her neck to the top of her shorts.

I decided to ignore it and ask her later; right now, she was slowly quieting, the tears stopping, and she was taking in deep, shuddering breaths. Damn, this girl was a heavy sleeper… I (accidentally) drifted off like that, sitting up and leaning against the headboard, my hand still lying on her back.

In my subconscious, I decided that I wouldn't let anything hurt her, ever again- starting with me. So I guess I can't ignore Max anymore… Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

MaxPOV

When I woke up…. Fang was in my bed. And I had absolutely _no_ idea why.

Any other time, I would have kicked him in the nuts. But there were just one little problem with that- I'd already pissed him off enough in one week. And I was kinda sick of being ignored.

So I settled for: "Fang, wake the hell up!"

"Wha?" he said suddenly, sitting up quickly and practically throwing me off the bed.

I sat up and folded my arms across my chest. "Explain. Now." He looked around, confused, but then realization crossed his face.

Fang stood and stretched, and then looked down at me, my head still cocked to the side and a questioning look on my face.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he said uneasily. I just glared at him, with a _what the hell do you think?_ expression. He sighed.  
>"Well... you were saying... some things. Last night."<p>

Aw, shat. "What kind of things?"

He just flashed me a quick grin. With teeth. It's a miracle, hallelujah! "Some things," he repeated simply. "And Max… you're forgiven." He grinned again, and was out the door before I could say another word.

Asshole.

Wait, he forgives me? Just like that? _What did I say last night?_

Breakfast was- finally- not awkward. (You see, Fang and I woke up before anyone else… Thank God.) I reclaimed my spot next to Fang, after six days of being switched with Nudge, and the others didn't even look up, being used to me and Fang's off-and-on friendship. Dr M did give me an _I–told-you-so_ look, and I rolled my eyes. And to make this day so much better? It was Saturday, so I didn't have to put up with the Wicked Bitch of the West, Brigid.

But one little thing was off- Fang kept shooting me strange looks, but not at my face; more like something behind me. My… back…?

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, _no_.

I stood abruptly, forcing my expression to remain normal. "Hey Fang, I think I found that book you were looking for, you should come with me. Now."

"I'm not looking for a b-" I didn't let him finish, but grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the hallway.

"What did you see?" I hissed furiously.

Fang's expression was mystified. "I didn't see anything, Max. What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!"

"Seriously, Max. I really don't-"

"Then, tell me, what's the oh-so-interesting thing you keep _gawking_ at?"

"I said I didn't _see_ anything. I never said I didn't_ feel_ anything."

I shook my head furiously. "Please tell me you didn't."

"I did, Max, I'm not going to lie to you." His tone was calm, his expression serious. "Why is it so hard to trust me? _I_ trusted _you_, Max. You broke that trust, and still, here I am. Tell me what's hurting you- I promise, I _never_ will."

"I've heard that one before," I whispered. "Just… forget. Forget _everything._ Everything you heard, everything you felt. You. Know. Nothing. And I'm going to keep it that way." I went back to finish my breakfast, Fang right behind me- and what surprised me was that he didn't even look angry, like he was forcing himself not to be.

Works for me.

But I can't trust him- I can't trust _anyone_.

**Whoa, Fang, you creeper. Feelin' Max up.**

**OH MY GOD I JUST SAW HARRY POTTER. IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME. You Potter fans out there- feel free to PM me and discuss it! My brother refuses to anymore, since I annoyed him for an hour by doing so.**

**Now review, my minions. Review!**

**-Sierra**


	10. Blood

**So close! SO close to 200 reviews, guys, you rock!**

**Anyway… This chapter will be unbearably short-**

**Fang: -be mad! Be very, very mad.**

**Me: No, don't! Because this chapter leads to the big one… the chapter you've all been waiting for… sort of... and without further ado, I give you…**

**CHAPTER TEN!**

MaxPOV

"MAX! I NEED YOU DOWN HERE, NOW!" shouted Dr M from downstairs, where I could hear faint sounds of utter chaos.

Which I probably had to deal with.

I sighed and took out my iPod, wrapping the cord around it (I finally got it back after a week of grounding!) and threw it on my bed, bounding down the stairs. The sight that greeted me was almost exactly as I had expected it.

Gazzy and Iggy were protesting loudly about something to Dr M, who was questioning them with an apprehensive look on her face. Nudge was blabbering almost incoherently about bacon knows what to Ella. Angel was tugging on Ella's hand and smiling at her with faux innocence, looking like she was trying to persuade her to do something, and Ella looked rather confused. Dr M herself was looking rather haphazard; strands of hair from her bun were falling about her face, and said face was flushed from exertion.

And oh, man, the noise was just _too much._

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, getting everyone's attention. They looked to me with wide eyes that had a little bit of fear in them- good. "Okay, Dr M, what did you need?"

She rubbed her temples tiredly, turning away from the twins. "Well, I'm going to the grocery store and running a few other errands, and dropping Iggy and Gazzy off to see Super 8- I need you to check them for any potential weapons." The twins smirked deviously, and I gave them a warning glare. "Ella, Nudge, and Angel are going to the park, and I wondered if you'd… escort them. It's close by, sort of, so you can walk." I knew what she meant- those girls weren't exactly the best at self-defense, and I don't really trust the streets...

Why does it feel like I do everything around here sometimes? But anyway, I agreed. "Sure, but can I go home after they get there? I don't feel like staying at the park…" It was chilly today, and I really don't like cold. At all.

"Sure," she sighed. "But Ella, make sure you call her as soon as you want to leave." Ella nodded.

Dr M disappeared down the hallway, probably into her bedroom, and I turned to Ig and Gazzy with a menacing look on my face. "Bombs. Give 'em here, now," I growled. They groaned and turned out their jeans pockets- several small objects fell out, and I took them with care- don't want them exploding in my hand, now, do I?

I put my free hand on my hip and tapped my foot, noticing their failed poker faces. "Are you sure you don't have any more?" I asked, my voice dangerously sweet.

Gazzy gulped nervously and Iggy fiddled with the hem of his jacket. "I'm waiting," I informed them, raising an eyebrow. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gazzy's right hand twitch towards his jacket.

"AHA!" I yelled in triumph, and pounced on him.

"NO! Don't take those!" he shouted. "We worked on these for weeks!" I ignored him and reached inside his pocket, grabbing two slightly larger black objects, wires of all colors visible. **(Sorry, but how am I supposed to know what a small _bomb_ looks like?)**

"And what were you planning to do with these? Blow up the theater?" I demanded, waving them in front of their faces.

"Nah, they're just stink bombs, but really powerful ones," denied Iggy, smirking. "And besides, we don't need them as long as we have Gazzy." That last comment earned him a punch to the gut from his brother.

"What?" Iggy wheezed, clutching his abdomen. "It's true."

I rolled my eyes. "Cause anybody any physical damage, and there'll be hell to pay," I warned them, walking over to Ella, Nudge, and Angel.

"Okay, let's get this over with," I mumbled.

"Aww, can't Maxie take a little cold?" Ella teased. I just facepalmed, having learned that glares didn't affect her. At all.

"All right, boys, let's head out," said Dr M hurriedly, rushing in with keys in hand and purse in the other. "You'll miss your movie if we don't get there soon."

And then, I realized that someone was missing from this now slightly less chaotic scene. "Hey Dr M," I called. "Where's Fang?"

"Oh, probably still asleep- I checked on him a while ago, and he drifted off with his iPod in," she dismissed. "See you all in a couple hours!" She shut the door behind Iggy, Gazzy, and herself, leaving me and the girls standing alone on the living room.

I grabbed my gray jacket from where it was slung over the couch and slipped it on. "So where exactly is this park of yours?"

"Umm, it's only about a block away, just follow me. We'll get there in no time, and then you can come back here…" said Ella, shrugging, and we were out the door.

FangPOV **(THis is about to get freaky.)**

About five minutes after I heard everyone leave, I finally sat up in my bed, deciding that they wouldn't be back anytime soon- I'd just been pretending to be asleep when Dr M came in, so they'd all leave me the hell alone.

Because at the time, I'd just woken up from another nightmare.

Another nightmare about Maya, I should add.

I saw her again… I saw her body. There had been blood, _so much blood_, everywhere, the voices of police and neighbors muffled by the shock and pain running through my mind. Every single damn time I relived that night in my dreams, it was just too much to take.

So I stood, stretched, and walked over to my desk, sitting. In the very back of the drawer, there was a knife; five inches of steel, adequately sharpened. I'd hidden it from the people at the adoption agency when I'd been sent there; at first, I had only kept it for safety… but then, its purpose had changed. I flipped it open and pushed the sleeve of my sweatshirt back, laying the cool blade against my skin.

It's... it's not a feeling you can easily escape. You get a feeling like you should be doing this; an urge, in a way. You think 'it'll be better if you do this. It'll be a distraction.' As I dragged the tip across my flesh, I closed my eyes and smiled slightly to myself; the pain was… intoxicating. I felt the warmth of my blood flow out and trickle down my wrist, landing on the dark wood of the desk- I'd clean it up later, before it dried.

I was always careful not to cut too deep, or make too many at once, no matter how tempting it was; I didn't want to pass out- then they'd notice for sure.

_Maya…_

_I could see her again…_

_Just a little deeper… A little more…_

The blade wavered a little over my arm as I battled my own mind, I didn't know for sure what was beyond… and I should stay, for Max- no, I mean _all_ of these guys…

_They're not your family. Don't you want too see your parents again? Maya?_

And suddenly, I heard footsteps, and my door flew open.

**I'm so evil, I know. Deal with it.**

**Fang: She gets way too much joy out of trolling you guys for it to be healthy…**

**Me: Yup! It's true. But... about the whole cutting stuff. Well, the feeling- emotional, not physical- it wasn't exactly based off imagination. But don't worry, I'm not a cutter. So the physical... I've never owned or used a knife like that. So I seriously do not know what that feels like.**

**-Sierra**


	11. Decisions, Decisions

**You guys are so awesomely awesomesauce and Bacontastic I don't even have words for it.**

**And I'm SO SORRY about the wait- my sisters won't stop playing World of Warcraft. -.-**

**Fang: You mean _you_ won't stop playing World of Warcraft…**

**Me: -whacks Fang over the head with hammer-**

**Iggy: -pops out of nowhere- STOP. HAMMER TIME.**

FangPOV

I yanked my sleeve down over my arm and whirled around, leaning against my desk to hide the knife. The person in my doorway was… Dr M?

**We interrupt this program for a spaz attack from your author.**

**AHAHAHAHA YOU GUYS THOUGHT IT WOULD BE MAX DIDN'T YOU HAHAHAHA OH MY BACON THIS IS JUST TOO FUNNY –wipes tears of laughter from eyes- Okay, I think I'm under control now. Back to the story!**

"Oh, you're awake," she said warmly. "I realized that I forgot my driver's license right after I dropped the boys off- that could've been bad. But I decided to check on you… Are you okay? You were asleep for a while."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, struggling to keep my tone neutral- she'd caught me _way_ off guard. "Just tired."

"Okay, well, I guess I'll be going now," she said, smiling again, and waving at me. I waved halfheartedly back, just to be polite.

Big mistake.

Her gaze zeroed in on my hand. "Hey, you're bleeding!" she exclaimed, rushing over to me. Shit, shit, _shit_- a little blood had trickled down form my arm and onto my palm. "What happened?"

I put my arm behind my back. "It's nothing," I told her quickly- maybe too quickly. Her eyes got a little suspicious.

"Fang, let me see your hand," she commanded in such a tone that it was almost Max-worthy. I very, very, reluctantly and slowly stretched out my hand to her, praying she wouldn't push back my sleeve.

She examined my hand carefully, turning it over slowly. "I don't see any cuts- did you have a bloody nose or something? Well, you couldn't… I don't see any blood on your face… Is it further up on your arm?"

"No, _don't-_" I started. But it was too late- she had pushed my sleeve up to my elbow. And now she sees the cuts.

I am so screwed.

"Fang, did you do this?" Dr M asked shakily, staring down at the pattern of slightly pink scars that crisscrossed on my flesh (the almost healed ones)- and the three red, long ones I had just made.

"Um… no?" I answered weakly. She suddenly pushed me aside, craning her neck to see what was behind me on the desk- which would be the knife and blood.

Again: I'm screwed.

I just stood there, frozen- Dr M was looking openmouthed from me, to my arm, to the knife, and back again. Then she stopped, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose like she had a headache. "I don't know what to say about this," she muttered. I heard her say something like 'these kids' under her breath.

Suddenly, Dr Martinez looked up at me, staring me right in the eyes. "Explain yourself."

Where to start, where to start… "Do I have to?" I know I sounded like a little kid then, but oh well.

"Yes. Actually, you know what? Don't. I'm going to set you up with a therapist."

Not a shrink, dammit! "Don't," I growled. I mean, how would you like to have to tell some complete stranger practically everything about you? Hell no!

"I'm going to- you need help, if it's come to this. Do I need someone to watch you 24/7, Fang? A babysitter, to make sure you don't hurt yourself again? Because I'm not sure how much I trust you anymore. I'm very disappointed in you."

Damn. How is it that adults always know exactly what to say to make you feel like crap? "I don't need help," I protested.

"Obviously, you do. Now tell me the truth: you don't have any other _sharp objects_ hidden away, do you? And if you're lying, I'll know. Trust me." She made quotation marks with her fingers when she said 'sharp objects'.

"I don't," I mumbled- but truthfully, I didn't. At least, not that I know of. But man, this isn't good… now Dr M knows, and I have too see a rapist. Well, not really a rapist, but… you know what I mean.

"Good. Now come with me; I'm going to clean those cuts up- and trust me, I'll be checking you every day for any new ones."

I followed her to the bathroom, where she Band-Aid-and-hydrogen-peroxide'ed the shit out of my arm. She then left to go run her errands, with a promise that no, she wouldn't tell any of the other kids and a warning that yes, I would be in a_ lot_ of trouble if I cut myself again.

So here I am. Sitting on the couch 'n being bored. And then Max comes in, cheeks pink from the chill outside, slipping off her jacket. "Hey, I'm back," she called. I just nodded aimlessly in her direction, not feeling like talking, dread swirling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of a therapist.

"Well, someone's certainly a quiet little emo boy today," she said playfully. My head snapped up. Did she know? How?

She looked at me strangely, noticing my gaze. "What? I was joking. No need to throw a hissy fit," she said, smirking. Max sat on the other end of the couch, leaning back and closing her eyes. "Ugh. I hate cold."

"Someone's certainly a talkative little… um… girl today," I said lamely. FAIL, FANG, _FAIL_.

Apparently, Max was thinking the same thing. "Seriously? _Girl_? That's the best you could come up with?" Her laughter rang throughout the room, making my mouth twitch against my will.

Suddenly, she sat up, looking at me curiously. "What was that?" she asked me, her tone slightly suspicious.

"What was what?" I was panicking inside- did Max see blood or something? I checked my hand for any, but there was nothing there. **(That paranoid child...)**

"I could've sworn I saw your mouth twitch- almost like you were gonna smile. But we all know that when you do, the world will end, just like if someone divided by zero," she said dryly. Oh. It's just that.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure. Did they give you too much medication at the mental institution today?"

Max reached out and punched me on the arm, hard. The one with the cuts. Ouch. I winced involuntarily. "What, you can't take a little punch?" she snickered.

"Please. I'll show you who can't take a punch." I lunged for her, knocking us both off the couch and onto the ground. I hovered over her body, making sure not to actually touch her, my hair hanging in her face. "Wanna take that back?" I whispered.

"Never," she said, smirking up at me. "And Fangy, didn't mommy ever teach you not to hit a girl?"

"Mommy's gone now," I muttered. "Fangy?"

"Yup."

"Then I'm calling you Maxie."

"Fine. Get off me, _Fangy_."

"Technically, I'm not even touching you…" Max rolled her eyes and pushed on my chest with both hands, making me land with a thud on the ground. I just laid there, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating my fate from here on out. Now that Dr M knew, would she want to put me back up for adoption?

The thought caused an uneasy feeling in my stomach, so I shook it off as I heard Max sink down onto the couch. I stayed like that for a while in silence, hands behind my head- until Max spoke, trying to fill the awkward silence that was probably my fault.

"So how's the rather sucky existence we call life?"

I rolled over onto my side. "Suckier than ever," I said flatly. She has no idea… "You?"

"Meh." How very intelligent and descriptive of you, Max.

Silence.

"Care to elaborate on the suckishness of it all?"

"Meh."

"You stole my word!"

"Meh…" I heard her stand and walk over to me, and I rolled onto my back once again. Max lay down on her side, propping herself up on her elbow about a foot away from me, and I could feel her curious gaze on my face. I flipped over to face her, and she looked down, long lashes casting shadows on her cheek.

"So, what's so meh about your life?" I asked her quietly. "You've got it all. A nice family. Big house. Friends."

Max's eyes snapped up to meet mine, a little fire in them. "You've got all of those too-" DAMN YOU, LOGIC- "-and anyway, I'd think that you of all people would understand that those aren't everything."

"Meh."

"That word is now dead to me forever. But… I mean.. There's a reason that I was adopted. That we all _had_ to be adopted. Your life is 'meh' all the time, knowing that reason, whatever it is."

"You've got a point," I admitted. "But why won't you tell me yours?"

"We've been over this," she sighed. "I thought you were done with it…"

"Nah. I don't think I ever will be."

"Jerk. I'm not telling you."

"Why not?" My question seemed to catch her off guard a little.

"Because I said so," she told me simply.

"Oldest excuse in the book."

"This conversation is over, Fang. As of now."

And suddenly, an idea formed in my mind. "Sure, Maxie," I said, smirking and knowing that would get on her nerves. I stood and stretched. "Whatever you say…"

I have to get Max to tell me everything… And I know exactly how to do it. It's not very nice, but I'm gonna go through with it anyway.

Just when I will is the real question…

* * *

><p>MaxPOV<p>

For the last two days…. Fang has been acting extremely strange.

_Extremely._

You see, when we all first got here, he spent a lot of time in his room, and didn't talk a lot. He said a few words, sure, though not many. But over the next two months, he actually talked to people, got a little friendlier.

And now? Well, he's been absolutely _mute_ for the two days he's been this way- and he only comes out of his room to eat and probably use the bathroom… which I don't want to think about.

It also doesn't help that at two in the afternoon today (which would be the Third Day of Fang's Ultimate Strangeness) Dr M practically had to drag him out to the car, and she left without answering any of our questions of where are you going, why is Fang going with you, can I make some bacon (Iggy), and the like. She was back ten minutes later without him, left again approximately an hour and a half later, and came back with an extremely pissed looking Fang.

And except for those two, none of us have any idea why.

It's _beyond_ frustrating.

FangPOV

I just got back from my first therapy session.

And I'm in the mood to kill something.

For one, the guy wouldn't stop calling me Nick, no matter how many times I insisted that my name was Fang. He said that a name like that would 'only drive me further into depression.' I tried to punch him. He muttered something about 'violent tendencies' and scribbled it down on this little clipboard.

I have to admit, it was pretty funny when he tried to get me to tell him stuff… You know, like blah blah blah, why do I cut, things about my family, all that crap. I answered every question with an insult. His face was just about purple by the time I was through with him.

I tried to convince him to just tell Dr M that I was getting better after every time I came here; he gets paid and not insulted, and I don't have to tell him anything. Win win, right?

Wrong.

He told Dr M that I would tell him nothing and that I tried to fool her; she was pretty mad. But the guy said 'Don't worry, Ms Martinez, I won't give up on him'- talking about me like I wasn't even there. So apparently, I have to keep going until I tell him something, and I'm 'better.' These people just don't get it…

Actually, Dr M told me there was one alternative. If I talk to someone, anyone- well, anyone that she trusts- then I won't have to go anymore. It makes me wonder if she trusts Max… but no, I couldn't risk telling Max that. I mean, she'd probably hate me for it and never, ever speak to me again. It's just one of those Max-y things that she does.

But there's a little voice in the back of my head, telling me that she'd understand, she wouldn't judge me… even though I know for certain she would.

I'm definitely not talking to Dr M about it in any way, shape, or form. The only other adult I really know even the tiniest bit is Brigid, and she makes me want to puke. Ig or Gaz- out of the question. Nudge, Ella and Angel? Well, it goes without saying that that right there is a flat-out NO.

So what do I do?

**Yes, guys, what does he do? Tell me in the reviews- do you want him to tell Max or not? Whatever you say won't set it in stone- I just want to know what you think.**

**Oh, and I should clear something up, because someone said that Sam should date Max.**

**Sam is in his late twenties.**

**That would make him a pedo.**

**-Sierra**


	12. Explanations

**OH GOD. YOU GUYS REALLY, REALLY WANT FANG TO TELL. I was overwhelmed by the amount of reviews that said TELL MAX TELL MAX TELL HER TELL HER TELL HER!**

**All I have to say for now.**

FangPOV

A little after Brigid left today, I made my decision.

And sadly, it does not involve the wonderful blackmailing plan I was going to use on Max.

Know that I feel like I swallowed a beehive right now.

MaxPOV

"Hey, Max?" came a voice in my doorway. No way. Fang was talking? What miracle has occurred to cause this? It's been, oh, about _four days._

I looked up from my position on the floor at his shadowy figure, leaning against the wooden frame. (I like to read on the floor. Yes, I read, I'm not your average dumbass, but I'm not a nerd.) "Yeah?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fang jerked his head in the general direction of the front door. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"But it's cold outside…" Why was he asking me this, anyway?

"I know. Suck it up." Wow, twelve words in a whole minute! I'm proud of him.

"Fine," I said grumpily. Stupid cold… I followed Fang silently down to the front door and yelled "GOING FOR A WALK!" to anyone who could hear, hopefully Dr M included. We aren't exactly just supposed to leave without telling her, but since when do I follow rules? Unless I want to…

I grabbed my jacket and we were out the door, into the chilly evening air- Fang already had his on. It was big, black, and leather… and sexy…

Oh my bacon, I did _NOT_ just think that.

He walked with his head down and hands in his pockets, not saying a word. As usual. "Well, are you going to tell me where we're going? Or what the hell the point of this is?" I said irritably.

Fang shook his head. "Not yet. Wait until we get there." I was silent, but a thousand questions were bubbling up inside me as we walked along under the gray sky, and trust me, it wasn't slow, either. But I wasn't weak; I could keep up with him.

I recognized the way we were going from a few days ago, when I 'escorted' the younger girls to the park- which is where I figured we were going. But this time, it went a lot faster, seeing as I didn't have to deal with a girl on crutches…

My suspicions were correct; we soon arrived at the nearly empty-park. I pointed this out to Fang. "You see? There's almost no one here. Because it's _cold_. And they're all _inside._ Such smart people!" He just rolled his eyes and led me to the swing set; why on earth they made the benches out of metal, I don't know. They weren't exactly soft, and the rubber of the swings was more comfortable… Oh, I should just shut up now. I'm ranting about _swings._

"So what is the oh-so-mysterious-and-important reason you made me come out into the cold and then proceed not to talk to me?" I questioned.

Fang took a deep breath and put his head in his hands. "How do I do this?" he mumbled.

"Do what?"

"Shut up. I'm thinking."

"Ugh."

He sat there for a minute, and then looked up at me. "Okay. Just… I have some questions. Answer them."

"I make no promises."

"Max…" That tone… was like vocal bambi eyes… F you, Fang.

"Ugh!" I said again. Stupid vocal bambi eyes. "Just talk."

"You don't trust me," Fang stated.

"That's not a question," I said uneasily.

"Fine. Do you trust me?"

I hesitated a little. "No."

"Exactly. Do you hate me?"

"No. Well, sometimes…" I smirked at him.

"If you don't hate me, then you like me."

"In a sense."

"What sense?"

"Sometimes you're okay, and sometimes I want to punch your face in, in the nicest way."

"But you don't trust me."

"You and all these not-really-a-question questions," I sighed.

"But _why?_"

"Because I don't," I told him coolly. "I have my reasons. And they are _mine_. Not yours. Mine."

"Someone's protective of her reasons…"

"Get to the point already!"** (Yes, Sierra, get to the point…)** Fang looked almost… nervous… when I said that. But why? Fang doesn't get nervous. It's a rule.

"Um, yeah. Sorry. But I take it you want to know where I went on Monday," Fang assumed.

"No shit," I said dryly. What he said next really caught me off guard.

"If I told you… Would you trust me? Even the tiniest bit?"

"Um… I… uh…" I stumbled over my words uneasily. "Nes?"

"What is _nes_?"

"A mixture of no and yes… But how will I know you're not lying to me?"

Fang looked me right in the eyes when I said that, causing a shiver to run up my spine. Like the holy-shit-I'm-kinda-scared-right-now shiver. "Do you think I would lie to you?" he asked softly, and suddenly, he seemed way too close for comfort.

I gulped. "Um… no?"

"Then your answer: Would you trust me? No matter how little, would you trust me?" Fang's dark eyes blazed with an emotion I didn't recognize. Huh. Fang and emotion just don't fit in the same sentence…

I battled myself for a minute, and he waited patiently- at least, on the outside.

_How could he hurt you? He told you he never would…_

_You never really know all the ways someone can hurt you until they use them. And people LIE._

_Fang's not the type to betray someone._

_No one is really what they look like. It's not that simple._

_Does it have to be complicated? Sometimes it _is_ that simple._

Damn… half of me has a point.

And the other half is very, very scared.

But I'm Maximum Ride. I take risks. I don't get scared. You know, except for when it comes to emotions. Nothing scares me more.

And besides, it can't hurt to say that I'll trust him. I could be lying... but I feel like I'm not.

"Yes," I decided finally. Fang exhaled in… relief? Ookay.

"Thank you," he told me seriously. "I mean it."

"Right. Whatever. I want my info. Shoot."

"Ever the polite one, Max. But anyway… Um… I was kinda... at the rapist's."

_"YOU GOT RAPED?"_ I yelled. WAY too loudly. This would have been very bad if the park wasn't close to empty.

"NO! I mean therapist! THERAPIST! I call it rapist in my head, because that's what it sounds like... The? Rapist?"

I stared at him like I had never stared at anything in my life before. "You are a sick, sick child. Wait. THERAPIST?"

"Um… yeah?"

"WHY?"

"Max, lower your voice. But… oh, holy _shit_, I can't do this," he muttered.

I smacked him on the head. Hard. "Oh, no. You are not going to tell me that you went to a freaking _therapist_ and then _chicken out_ and not tell me _why_!"

He looked up at me again, rubbing his head. "Ouch… But Max, promise me one thing. That's all I ask."

"Fine." I crossed my arms tightly and glared at him. "What is it?"

"Whatever you do, do not freak out. Do. Not. And… don't judge me. Let me explain."

"I'm pretty sure that's three things, Fang."

"Promise!" He glared right back at me, waiting for my response.

"Whatever. I promise, if it's so important to you."

He took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm telling you this… But Max… I… mrrghrhmrmrl." The last bit was completely mumbled- I couldn't hear it. At all.

"Huh?" Ugh! Stupid mumbling!

He looked down, avoiding my eyes. "I cut myself." And now, it was clearly pronounced.

It also hit me like a freaking truck.

FangPOV

"You did WHAT?" Max shrieked, standing, grabbing a fistful of my shirt, and getting in my face. I was yanked to my feet by her grip. "There had better be a freaking _excellent_ explanation for this!"

So much for not freaking out! "Calm down! Good Max… don't bite… or kick… or punch… or kill me! You promised you'd let me explain!" I exclaimed.

"Promises are broken sometimes! Now EXPLAIN!"

"I will if you let me go!"

"And I will _kill_ you if you don't start talking. Right. Freaking. Now."

I glared at her. "Fine. Last time I believe you when you promise something, though. But if you'll just listen for a _second_ you'd know that my entire family is freaking _dead_ and it's my freaking FAULT!" I yelled the last word, my anger overwhelming me.

Angry at Max? Nah.

Angry at myself? _Hell yes_.

Max honestly looked shocked, and she let go of me. "I didn't know."

I laughed mirthlessly and turned away from her. "Yeah. I _know_ you didn't know."

I felt a hand on my shoulder "Fang," Max said softly. "Let's talk. Not here. Let's go home."

I nodded numbly, all anger gone, and she took me by the hand like we had the night she asked who Maya was, and I didn't tell her. The gesture was merely comforting; nothing more.

And I didn't care.

Because honestly?

Comfort... Well, it doesn't fix anything, but it numbs the pain for a while.

Just a little.

MaxPOV

Fang was silent the whole way home, and I wished more than ever that I knew what was going on in his head. I knew that my mind was a mess right now; trying to process too many things at once, like everything Fang told me. It was just too much to handle without an explanation.

Now I knew why he always wore long sleeves, even when it had been hot back in August. And yes, I do care if he freaking cuts himself! For a girl who was abused, that a big freaking deal. This was just… ugh, if I think about it any more, I will explode.

Distract yourself, Max.

I concentrated on Fang's hand in mine, thinking back to that night when we'd heard him yelling in his sleep. I'd gone to his room after everyone went back to bed, and things had been said…. That I can't really remember… Some things about his sister, I think. But we ended up holding hands, somehow, and I didn't flip shit.

It was easy, easier than breathing, to just take his hand and think it as nothing. It was natural. No, it wasn't the cliché oh-his-hand-fits-so-perfectly-in-mine crap. His was actually kinda too big.

But friends hug. Friends can hold hands, too. Nothing wrong with it.

I broke the contact as I opened the front door to reveal a pacing, very anxious looking Dr M on the phone and the other kids looking slightly worried. "Oh, thank god you two are all right!" Dr M exclaimed, snapping her phone shut. "Where were you? We were so worried!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. "I told you guys that we were going for a walk."

"Well, no one heard you," said Iggy dryly. "Dr M was flipping sh- er, crap."

"Yes, Iggy,_ crap_. Just make absolutely sure I know where you're going next time, okay?" sighed Dr M.

I nodded. "Yeah, whatever. OkayMeAndFangHaveToGoNow_BYE_!" I grabbed Fang by the arm and dragged him up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind us. I let go and plopped down onto my bed, drawing my knees up to my face and resting my chin on them. "Talk," I told him.

And that's what we did. We talked for a long time, so long that Dr M got suspicious and asked us what we were doing in there. And of course, we just told her we were talking… I mean, what else would we be doing? Get your mind out of the gutter, kids.

Fang told me everything; he told me about Maya, his old life, even the psychopath that killed his family, some crazy named Sam something-or-other. I knew it was painful for him to talk about- but we don't call him Mr Emotionless Brick Wall for nothing. He kept a straight face the whole time. When we were called down for dinner, we claimed not to be hungry- we could get something to eat later. And that brings us to now. Fang somehow ended up lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, and I'm sprawled out on my bed, contemplating everything he just told me.

"Max?"

"Shh. I'm thunking."

"Thunking?"

"Yup."

Silence.

"So... Fang? Promise me something. Never, ever hurt yourself again," I said finally. It feels wrong to know he did that, and I couldn't take it if he did it again.

"Why should I?" he asked absentmindedly.

"Because I said so."

"I will… if you tell me something. Actually, a lot of something's. I want to know your story. I trusted you with everything I had, so now it's _your_ turn. You have anything and everything to hold over my head."

I rolled over onto my side to look down at him. "Could you _please_ give it up with the 'know everything about me' thing?" Fang has a point… but this is hard to do. Too hard.** (Fang: That's what she said… Me: THAT'S IT. I'M GETTING THE SOAP.)**

"Oh, my _god_. You are the most _stubborn_ person I have ever met! Come on, Max, what is it exactly you have against me?" Fang's tone was frustrated- oh, look; it's an honest-to-god emotion!

"It's not _you_. I just don't like to talk about it. Trust me. I really, _really_ don't like to talk about it," I said flatly.

Fang stood and sat beside me on the bed. I avoided his eyes, but he spoke anyway. "Max, I swear on bacon, I will never, ever hurt you. I _can't_. I will _never_ lie to you. If you can trust anyone, it's me."

The boy just swore on bacon.

He's really, really not lying.

"You swore on bacon," I said in a small voice.

"I did."

"Bacon?"

"Bacon."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Yes."

Silence again.

"Okay," I said softly.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

I took a deep breath…

And was interrupted by my door bursting open.

"All right, you guys have been up here for _hours._ What is going on in here? WHY ARE YOU ON THE BED?" yelled Dr M. I could see the other kids out in the hallway, snickering quietly.

"Can we have a word, Dr Martinez? In private?" asked Fang politely. Yeah, him and all his split personalities.

"She shut the door behind her and crossed her arms. "Talk," she said in a dangerous tone. "I swear, if you were up to anything, I'll-"

"WHOA, THERE," I interrupted loudly, holding my hands up. "Nothing happened! We're not… like that!"

"Then explain!"

Just then Fang cut in. "Dr M, do you remember your… alternative?" She nodded tensely, and he gestured to me. "Well, Max is it. We were talking."

"Really?" she said curiously. "Well, I guess that's okay… but I'll need to have a word with Max about it." WHAT ALTERNATIVE? WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE SPEAK OF? "Fang, you should probably get some sleep. It's getting late." Fang nodded impassively, stood, and left.

Grrr.

Dr M told me about the whole 'alternative' to therapy thing- he talks to someone she trusts, he doesn't have to go. But apparently, I have to tell her if he's getting better or worse, and make sure that he does not cut himself again- stupid emo boy.

And trust me, if he does, there will be some _major_ ass-kicking. From yours truly.

FangPOV

I walked back to my room, feeling a bit lighter after getting all that off my chest- but trust me, it's not like everything's gonna be all fine and happy from here on out. Just because I told Max doesn't mean the pain's gonna go away. Emotional pain never really does. It's always there, no matter how little there is left.

And then, I realized that right when Dr M came in, Max had been about to tell me her story.

MOTHERFU-

**And THIS is where I stop the chapter, because FANG'S A NAUGHTY LITTLE BOY! AREN'T YOU, FANG?**

**Fang: -coughs and spits out soap- THAT WAS DISGUSTING. NEVER. AGAIN.**

**Anyway, I hope you're all happy! But you didn't really expect me to give you both confessions in one chapter, did you? –laughs maniacally- Silly readers!**

**Question: any Nightmare Before Christmas freaks out there? Tim Burton? Anyone? TELL ME I'M NOT ALONE IN MY OBSESSION. Hell, I have the soundtrack on my iPod...**

**-Sierra**


	13. Not Alone

**So guess what me and Fang did… Because we had anger problems… -devious smirk-**

**Fang: I want to freaking tell them. LET ME TELL THEM.**

**Me: He's REALLY excited for this. You have no idea. But I am too!**

**Fang: -explodes- We kidnapped Dylan! Death to Dyldo!**

**Me: Language! But I told ya he was excited! –picks up baseball bat-**

**Fang: Oh, indeed! –grabs chainsaw-**

**Dylan: DON'T KILL M-**

**Me: -whacks him in the skull with bat- NEVER! THIS IS FOR KISSING MAX, YOU EVIL JUSTIN BIEBER LOOKALIKE!**

**Fang: -hacks off Dylan's legs- THIS IS FOR EXSTING, YOU CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED-**

**This A/N has been cut off for extreme violence and language, the death of a monstrosity also known as Dylan, and a very OOC Fang.**

ThirdPersonPOV

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

"Fang."

Silence for a minute.

_Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap-_

"FANG!" Max exploded. Fang stopped tapping his pencil and shot her a smirk, which she returned with a glare. This glare was greeted by a glare from Brigid to Max and a sickly sweet smile to Fang- which he ignored, as always.

The twins, Max, and Fang were working on some homework they were supposed to finish yesterday but didn't- Max and Fang were too busy shut in Max's room last night, talking, and Gazzy and Iggy were working on a plan that the current narrator does not know the name of, or the reason for it. The narrator is very aware that it is breaking the fourth wall.

But Nudge, Ella, and Angel, being the perfect little students that they are, finished all their homework, so they get some free time while Brigid waits on the older kids- apparently, 'they can't continue with the lesson until they have a full understanding of yesterday's,' to quote Brigid.

Fang kept shooting glances at Max from his spot next to her, she pretended not to notice. He was anxious for Brigid to be gone and 'school' to be over so he could find out all about Max- something Max herself seemed to have completely 'forgotten' about.

MaxPOV

I'm about to kill Fang. I will take great joy in doing it in the most gory way possible.

HE. WILL. NOT. STOP. TAPPING. HIS. DAMN. PENCIL.

You have NO IDEA how annoying it is. And he's sitting right next to me, too!

I think I'll rip off Brigid's head while I'm at it. She's still hitting on Fang and still glaring incessantly at me. Also, the amount of homework she gave us was unbelievable! Do you blame me for not finishing it? Especially with everything that happened last night?

Moving on.

I realized that last night I never told Fang about me. Dr M interrupted us. I'm not entirely sure whether that's good or not; I have mixed feelings on the subject. But the question is, if Fang asks me again, will I tell him? I know he swore on bacon and everything, but I was a little caught up in the moment. Now my head is relatively clear and I can think.

Sort of.

FangPOV

I'm going insane, I swear I am.

I never show any signs of impatient-ness. Ever.

And yet here I am, tapping my pencil like there's no tomorrow. If I had one of those pens that you can click, it would be like _click click click click click click click click. _Did I mention that I'm going insane? You know, not that I wasn't already.

But you know what really sucks? It's only eight in the morning. I still have until five thirty until I can get Max alone. Not like that. Minds out of the gutter, children. We have twenty minutes for lunch- usually Ig cooks- but Max spends the whole time eating. How she eats so much and stays so lean, I don't know.

No, _bad_ Fang. Keep your thoughts away from Max's body! And I just told _you_ to keep your mind out of the gutter…

Okay, moving on from this subject...

Eventually, Max used her I'm-in-charge powers to banish me to the Dark Corner of Time-Out until I can control my tapping. I think everyone but Max has been there before- Brigid tried to send her once, but that ended very badly. _Very._ I won't even go into detail. No one was injured, only scarred mentally for life. And I think Angel got a few new vocabulary words out of it- and not the good ones, either.

Lunch passed, nothing eventful happened. I was able to control the pencil-tapping and was let out of the corner (damn, that makes me sound about five years old) but instead I tapped my fingers verryyy quietly against my leg so that Max couldn't hear.

Four more hours, and counting.

* * *

><p>"Hey guys, I'm home!" Dr M called from the front door. I slammed my textbook shut and stood, grabbing my things and running upstairs to put them in my room. I bolted back downstairs and waited for Brigid to leave, leaning against the wall and acting like I hadn't just randomly ran out of the room.<p>

Because that's how I roll.

Max raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing as Brigid said goodbye, which was greeted with halfhearted waves to her. None of us really like Brigid anymore- I never actually did, and I _know_ Max didn't either.

Dr Martinez smiled at us warmly. "How was your day?" she asked.

"Fang was insane," said Max in all seriousness. I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing new," Ella added. I shot her a glare. Why does everyone think I'm insane?

_Because you are._

Shut up, subconscious. Everyone started to filter out of the room and into their respective hangouts… to go do whatever it was they did. Before Max left to go watch TV or something- she was heading for the basement- I called out her name. She turned to me. "Yeah?"

"I wanted to talk to you. Why do you think I've been 'insane', as you called it?" I said impatiently. Max rolled her eyes, and followed me reluctantly as I motioned for her to do so.

We reached the top of the stairs. "My room or yours?" she asked me. I shrugged, and suddenly, Iggy's head popped out of his room.

"Get some, Fang," he snickered, nodding approvingly.

"Not like that!" Max and I exclaimed in unison. I looked around for something to throw at him. Damn empty hallway…

"Suuureee it isn't," added Gazzy. "HEY DR M! FANG AND MAX ARE-"

I lunged for him, tackling him to the ground and clapping a hand over his mouth.

"One more word," I warned him. "That goes for both of you." Gazzy rolled his eyes, and suddenly, I felt him smirk under my hand as a toxic stench filled the air. I jumped back.

"Run," I said simply to Max, and she nodded, covering her nose with a hand and heading for the refuge of her room. We slammed the door behind us.

"There is something very wrong with that boy," Max muttered, shaking her head. I nodded in agreement. "Hey, what was it again you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh, like you don't know," I said dryly.

"No, I don't. Enlighten me." Riiight, Max…

"Swearing on bacon? Your story? Telling? Me? Ring a bell?"

Max laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah. Well, there's a slight problem with that…"

I crossed my arms. "You are _not_ doing this to me," I told her coldly.

She sighed and scratched the back of her head. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Pleeeaaaaaaaa-"

"_No_, Max."

"Fine," she huffed. "Just give me a minute. Or five." Max flopped down onto her bed, hanging upside down off the edge, her long hair hitting the floor. I assumed the position of knees-drawn-up-to-my-chin-staring-at-Max-to-make-her-hurry-up. But her brown eyes were closed, effectively ruining it.

And so I waited. And waited… And waited.

MaxPOV

Oh, god. Here we go…

I'll admit it. I _have_ to- I'm scared. I'm really, really scared.

"Max?" Came Fang's voice, ripping me from my thoughts. I opened my eyes, seeing him upside down. "Your face is turning purple."

I sat up suddenly, the blood rushing away from my head and back into my body. Oops. I guess I hung upside down for too long.

Taking a deep breath, I drew my chin up to my knees and rested my chin on them in a position identical to Fang's, leaning against my headboard. I motioned for him to take a seat on the bed.

_I'm as ready as I'll ever be._

Fang settled in the spot directly across from me and looked at me intently. I cast down my eyes and began, feeling shaky.

"When I was seven years old, my mother was a vet, and my dad was a scientist. He worked in genetics- but I'll get to that later. We were a happy, average family. Everything was fine.

"Until my mother was in a car crash. There was someone going down the highway, much too fast- but he wasn't even drunk. He didn't see her, and they collided.

"Neither of them lived." I could feel myself starting to break down a little, the pain of mentioning my family causing an ache in my chest. A really, really bad one. But I continued on. "About eight months later, my father started abusing me. At first it was just a few hits, maybe a couple times a week, but soon, it turned into an everyday thing. The tiniest thing I would do would set Jeb off. He started to drink, and soon lost his job." Fang was silent through all of this, his face still a mask.

"After a while, it wasn't only his fists. It started being knives, broken bottles, even. He was obsessed with hurting me- and yet, I went to school every day, covering up the bruises and scars that were everywhere." I shuddered a little, remembering. Memories flashed through my mind, and I felt an unwelcome tear slip down my cheek. I brushed it away. "But remember how I told you that Jeb was a scientist, a genetic one?" Fang nodded, still not saying a word. "Well, he always had this dream- this dream that humans could fly. That they could have wings. I'm not sure if what he was doing when he had his job was even legal. And when he lost it, that dream became impossible, if it wasn't already. So Jeb continued his dream on me. He gave me wings, Fang. But not the kind you would think."

"He carved them into my back."

And then the tears came. The memories were just too much, and I couldn't stop them. I would just have to cry in front of _Fang,_ of all people… through my blurred vision, I could see him crawl across my bed and sit next to me, though not touching me. Good boy.

But it's true. My back is covered with scars, scars that I never wanted him to know about. In the shape of wings. They go from the base of my neck to about an inch below my waistline- and I _hate_ them. They're a reminder of Jeb, my old life, and the others… of _him._

Someone I need to tell Fang about. Someone I have to.

I finally got a little more control of myself, wiping my eyes and not daring to look at Fang's face. "Max," he told me softly. "You don't have to go on- this is hurting you, and I-"

I shook my head quickly. "No," I said, voice quiet and slightly shaky. "I need to. I want to."

"If you're sure," he said hesitantly. I nodded.

"And Fang… It wasn't just me. I wasn't an only child."

**Sorry, but I love doing that to you guys. It's almost sadistic!**

**Anyway.**

**Fang's still beating on Dylan in the corner, after doing many gory things to what were once his limbs. I'm sad that I had to _write_ and couldn't join in…**

**But anyway. I AM NOW A BETA READER! And if you want me to beta, just let me know!**

**-Sierra**


	14. Dumbledore's Badassery

**OH LOOK. A WILD UPDATE APPEARED, ALONG WITH THE DEAD BODY OF DYLAN.**

**Yeah, he's dead. Fang and I were too happy while doing that for it to be healthy. Oh well.**

**Fang: Way too much sick, twisted glee indeed.**

**Anyway. Here's yo chapta. (Why do I insist upon talking like that occasionally...? It doesn't suit me.)**

MaxPOV

"_What?_" Fang looked- dare I say it- surprised as he said this. I nodded and looked away, not meeting his eyes.

"His name was Ari. He was older than me by three years," I told him. "He was my everything after Mom died. But one day, when he was thirteen… Ari ran away. He told me he'd see me again someday, and I believed him. I was only _nine_. Only nine, and he left me to deal with Jeb by myself. I haven't seen him in six years. I don't even know if he's alive or not." My voice broke, remembering him, his smile, his light blond hair and blue eyes- my mother's face, but my father's eye and hair color.

Hot tears pricked at my eyes again. My brother. Ari. I missed him, so much. "He's gone," I whispered to Fang, and he slipped his hand into mine.

"I know," he whispered. And he did. He lost them, too- his family. "I know what it's like."

I made no move to pull my hand from his. My world was on the verge of collapse- I needed a steady point. Something to hold on to, literally.

Ari had been that once.

FangPOV

Now I know. Everything. I know why she doesn't like to be touched. I know what the bumps I felt on her back are. I also know that if I ever find out where Jeb is, if he's alive, I am going to hunt him down and hurt him so badly he'll wish he'd never been born.

All without a hint of regret.

I mean, that's sick. Wrong. He cut_ wings_ into her _back_. He hit her, kicked her, cut her- and probably scarred her more mentally and physically than I can imagine. Max was tortured. Every day of her life. I felt like throwing up just thinking about it; the thought of Max being hurt so badly was…. unbearable.

And then her brother- Ari- left her. Alone, with that monster. She doesn't even know whether he's alive or dead! I see now why she was afraid to trust me. If she let me in, who knows if I'd leave her or not?

Well, me. And I wouldn't.

But Max doesn't know that.

I can't watch her. I can't watch her shake like this, sitting alone and yet only a couple feet away from me, clutching on my hand like it's the only thing holding her to the ground. This isn't _Max_. There's someone else in there, a scared nine-year-old who's hurt and doesn't know why everyone she loved left her.

And that's the Max I'm seeing now. A Max beyond repair.

I desperately want to comfort her, just reach out and pull her close to me, so she'll know that I'm not leaving. I'm here, and I'm not going any time soon. But I_ can't,_ and it frustrates me. Holding hands, she can do, apparently. (It feels more like she _has_ to, the way she's practically crushing my bones right now.) But I still remember the day Iggy clapped her on the back, and she freaked out- and I know why now. Max can't get rid of the sense that if someone's touching her there, they're going to cause her pain.

Jeb really messed her the hell up.

"Is he alive?" I murmured the question, hoping it wasn't a bad one to ask.

"I told you I d-don't know." Max struggled for breath, furiously wiping her tears away, not letting herself just cry it out. I honestly wouldn't care if she did- hey, I once had a sister, one wayyy more emotional than Max. I'm kinda used to this… (Not saying I'm good with crying girls. Still not good with those.)

I should've been more clear. "Not Ari… Jeb." Max flinched when I said their names- I hated putting her through this, so much. But I had to.

"He's in prison," she choked out. "I _wish_ he was d-dead."

"He can't hurt you now, then," I said, lying a little. He could hurt her, wherever he was, with the memories he'd left. Hell, I was watching it now.

Just not physically.

Max nodded shakily, finally in a little better control of herself. "Thanks," she told me quietly. "For… listening. I should've shut up a while ago."

"No, you shouldn't have. You needed that," I assured her. "You should get some rest, you know. You're tired."

"No I'm not," she yawned, contradicting herself. "It's only six p.m…"

"And _you_ are tired."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am n- oh, whatever. This is stupid. I am kinda tired," she admitted. She stretched out on her bed, and I stood, carefully removing my hand from her now loose grasp.

"Hey, don't go," Max mumbled sleepily. I raised an eyebrow at her. Out of character much? Oh well… I just witnessed about twenty minutes of not-Maxness… "I kinda… um… I dream sometimes."

"If you're sure," I said, shrugging. I understood- nightmares are nothing new to me. "But I am _not_ sitting in your bed. I like my head where it is, thank you very much." A psycho Dr Martinez would probably remove it.

Max's eyes drifted closed and she barely nodded. I sat on the floor right next to her bed, leaning against it and waiting for her to fall asleep.

What? It's not like I'm going to _watch_ her. Only creeper man fairies do that. (In case you're wondering, Nudge once ranted to me about Twilight for approximately half an hour. I know these things, and regret that I do. Extremely.) I sat there for about ten minutes, and the sounds of Max's even, slow breathing filled the room. Getting up from my spot, I saw her frowning slightly in her sleep, but there wasn't much I could do.

For in our dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own.

I just quoted Dumbledore.

Badass.

Yeah, Maya had sort of been a Harry Potter addict… she made me go to all the movies with her. At least I didn't have to read the books- I never really liked that series. Moving on…

I faintly heard Dr Martinez's voice calling everyone down to go eat- Max still slept through it, and I looked hesitantly at her. I'm kinda _really_ hungry… She'll be fine, right? Probably.

I walked out her door, shutting it softly behind me, and followed Ella and Angel down the stairs and to the kitchen, where I could smell pizza. Not just any pizza- Iggy's pizza.

Yesssss.

"Hey, where's Max?" said Angel suddenly. Everyone turned to look at me. Even Iggy, who's _blind_.

WHY ME? It's always me.

"She's sleeping," I said defensively.

Dr M frowned. "She shouldn't be. If she sleeps now, she won't be able to fall asleep later."

"She's _sleeping,_" I told her again in a more forced tone. Max really doesn't need to be woken up right now. They all shot me strange looks and went back to eating… or drinking… or whatever.

I ate my food slowly for once, thinking about… the future, I guess. I wondered if we were ever going to go to real high school- or hell, college. Are we going to stay here? Dr M took us all, with our faults and problems- I was especially surprised that I wasn't out of here already, after she found out that I cut…

Which I hadn't done since that day, actually. Sure, sometimes I felt like I needed to… but something kept me from just going and stealing my knife back. (I know where it is, and I could definitely get my hands on it if I wanted to.)

And as I said earlier, there's just something. I don't know what it is; I can't recognize the feeling.

But I think I like it.

IggyPOV

I heard Fang stand and leave the table when he was done with his food, taking his plate and putting it in the sink. Soon after, Ella followed- but not before tugging slightly on the long sleeve of my shirt, doing it so that no one else would notice; almost like she was telling me to follow her.

"I'm suddenly not hungry," I mumbled, and dumped my mostly eaten piece of pizza in the trash, following the sound of Ella's light footsteps.

What does she want?

When we got out into the hallway, Ella turned me to face her, even though I couldn't see her… oh well. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go on… sort of a mission with me," she said in a mischievous, quiet tone. "Normally I'd take Nudge, but she can't stay quiet."

"Does this mission involve being even remotely devious or doing something we shouldn't be?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course."

"Well then! Give me the plan."

Ella lowered her voice even further so that the people still eating couldn't hear us. "Fang and Max keep disappearing into her room. Mom seems fine with it, but I want to know what's going on."

"I'm listening," I told her, nodding slowly.

"I propose that we eavesdrop. I have a bathroom that connects to Max's room- and they're in there now, even though Max is supposedly asleep. So we hide in my bathroom behind the door and listen," she explained.

"Sounds good. Let's go," I said eagerly. I didn't show it, but I wanted to know why they were up there- who _doesn't_ want to know a secret?

EllaPOV

I led Iggy into my room and across it to the door of me and Max's bathroom. As quietly as I could, I opened the door, stepped inside with Iggy after me, and we crouched behind the door that led to Max's room. I pressed my ear against the door and listened intently.

There was a yawn, and the sound of someone stretching. "Fang?" Max muttered sleepily. "What are you doing here?'

"You told me to stay here, remember?"

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I _didn't_."

"You did."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

I pressed a hand to my mouth to keep myself from laughing at their childish bickering, and Iggy was smirking beside me.

"I feel like crap," Max grumbled.

"I'm not surprised," Fang told her. "You don't exactly look like Miss America either."

"Hey! Oh well, I know I don't. My hair's a mess."

"Whoa, Max cares about her hair? _That's_ new."

"Are you sure this is really Fang?" whispered Iggy. And he was right- this was a side of Fang I'd never seen, let alone knew about. He spoke in _full sentences!_

"Not exactly," I murmured back.

We heard Max stand up. "I'll be right back, I'm just gonna go fix my hair in the bathroom. It's too tangly."

Iggy's unseeing eyes went wide with horror. "Abort! Abort!" he hissed. I ran to the door that led to my room and tugged furiously on the doorknob.

"It won't open!" I whispered frantically. And suddenly, Iggy grabbed me and pulled me into the shower, jerking the door back so that we were hidden and standing on the slightly moist floor- thank god it wasn't one of those semi-clear ones were you could see the silhouette of the person inside.

And then, the bathroom door opened, and someone walked in. Max. We heard her open a drawer (the one that I knew had her brush in it) and start to comb it out.

I then realized that I was in a shower meant for _one person_ with Iggy, the guy I admittedly may or may not have a slight crush on.

Let's just say that I was really glad he was blind right now so that he couldn't see me blush.

After a minute (I regret that Max doesn't do more with her hair. I mean, it's so beautiful! If only I could give her a makeover… hmmm….) Max walked back out, shutting the door behind her. I finally dared to exhale, Iggy doing so with me, and we stepped out of the shower.

"Well, that was kinda pointless," I admitted.

Iggy grinned. "A little bit. I guess they really do just talk. Boring."

"Mhm," I agreed. "Let's go before we get almost caught again."

IggyPOV

As I walked back to my room, I couldn't help but grin to myself a little. That had been pretty fun, even when we thought Max was gonna catch us- slight adrenaline rush, you know what I mean?

I entered my room, and I heard Gaz throwing a ball repeatedly against the wall and catching it. Bored much? Oh well, I'm a hypocrite. I am too…

I plopped onto my bed and sat in the direction that hopefully faced him. "Got any bombs?" I asked. "I've got nothing to do."

"Dude, do you even need to ask? But we shouldn't use them up now. Let's save 'em."

"Don't say dude, it makes you sound like a surfer or something."

"Does not. Anyway, man, what's the deal with you and Ella?" I could almost see his eyebrows waggling.

"What do you mean? She's cool. That's all," I said, shrugging.

"Riiight. I know you better than that. And anyway, all you ever do is hang out with her."

"That's not true…"

"Yeah, it is. When was the last time you hung out with Angel? She used to be around you all the time. She's been with me a _lot_ more than you lately."

Maybe he has a point. Angel always stuck to me like glue before we got here- I was the 'older older brother' to her, because I was born two minutes before Gazzy. I shrugged. "I'll make it up to her."

Gaz sighed uncharacteristically. "Okay, but just make sure you don't forget that you have a little sister. We've always stuck together, the three of us; remember that." And with that, he tossed me the ball and I caught it- yes, I _did_- while he walked out of the room, leaving me sitting still and kinda stunned, processing what he just said.

I really, _really_ hate guilt.

**FINALLY. I actually put in some of the other characters in the story… Heh heh…**

**Anyway.**

**Random conversation I had:**

**Me: So is there a cure for the infection?**

**My Brother: Yes. PULL THE SQUID OUT OF THEIR HEAD.**

**Don't ask.**

**Hey. Hey you, in front of the computer screen. You see that little button down there? The one that says Review This Chapter? He wants you. Click him. Turn him on.**

**-Sierra**


	15. Nurse Iggy

**Hey guys… uh… -laughs nervously- Guess what kind of chapter you get today?**

**Fang: A big, huge, FILLER.**

**Me: Well, when you put it that way, it sounds bad! It's not THAT fillerish. At least one important thing happens. So don't kill us!**

**Fang: US?**

**Me: Well, you're certainly not helping me think of ideas!**

**Fang: -grumbles to self-**

**Anyway. Here.**

MaxPOV

Have you ever awoke to a nine-year-old jumping up and down on your bed and occasionally leaning down to scream in your ear?

No?

Well, it's not pleasant.

"MAX MAX MAX MAX WAKE UP!" Angel yelled. I rolled over with some difficulty to look at my clock.

Nine thirty. Oh, it's Saturday. I forgot.

AND I DON'T WAKE UP AT NINE THIRTY.

"What do you want?" I groaned sleepily.

Angel stopped jumping and knelt down beside me, bouncing on her knees. "We're going costume shopping!" she told me happily.

I rubbed my eyes and propped myself up on my elbows, raising and eyebrow at her. "For what?"

"Halloween, silly!"

"But… that's like… in a month or something."

"Max, today's October nineteenth," came a dry voice from my doorway. Ella was leaning against it, smirking at me.

Wow, we're rubbing off on her.

"But I don't wear costumes," I whined. "Do I have to go?"

Ella strode over to me and rolled her eyes. "That is _exactly_ what Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy said. You're coming with us anyway. Now out of bed! Go eat breakfast."

I stumbled down the stairs and landed in my seat at the table, laying my head on the cool surface. (The boys were the only ones left- Nudge, Ella, and Angel had obviously already eaten.) Fang raised an eyebrow at me in a silent question.

"Tired," I sighed. He nodded and turned back to his food. Just then, Dr Martinez walked in.

"You need to eat something, Max," she reminded me. "We're leaving in twenty minutes."

"Remind me why we have to go again?" mumbled Gazzy tiredly. Both of the twins' hair was messy, sticking out every which way, and their eyes were barely even open.

Bet I looked worse.

"Well, you're a little old for trick-or-treating, but Ella's friend is having a Halloween party. With costumes. She said that Ella could bring friends- she knows about you guys," answered Dr M, taking a sip of her coffee.

I sat up then, and shook my head. "Whoa. Huh-uh. No parties for me." Not my thing. At all.

Fang nodded in agreement. "Same here."

I looked to the twins for their answer. Iggy's face was in his cereal bowl, and Gazzy looked like he was nodding off while sitting up.

Sigh.

Dr M rolled her eyes. "I'll wake them up in a minute. If you're not going to the party, would you guys mind taking Angel trick-or-treating? You won't have to go very far, and you definitely don't have to wear a costume."

I hesitated a bit, but then nodded when Fang did. I mean, I'm not going to go with just me and Angel- who _knows_ what could happen with that disastrous pairing?

Dr Martinez smiled. "Good! We can work out what time to get home and things like that when the day gets closer." She left, forgetting to wake up the twins- so I took liberty to do so.

"Got a megaphone?" I asked Fang hopefully. He shook his head.

But oh well. Lack of awesome megaphone equals use of cold water!

I got a glass from the fridge, smirking all the while, and stood behind Gazzy, who seemed to be snoring lightly. Was it just me, or did I see the corner of Fang's mouth quirk up?

Whatever. Without hesitation, I dumped the contents of the (rather large) glass on Gazzy's head.

He jumped up, sending his chair flying back straight into my stomach and causing me to fall over with it on top of me.

OUCH. It's a good that these thing are made of wood… Because if they were metal, I think I'd have a couple broken ribs right now.

"What was that?" Gaz yelped. Ignoring him, Fang got up and pulled the chair off me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me. Aww, is Fangy concerned? Psh. As if.

"I'm fine," I assured him as I stood, brushing myself off. Just a bruise or two, probably. Ig was awake by now and demanding to know what was going on.

"Max decided to wake me up with a nice cup of ice cold water," Gazzy grumbled. I smirked at him, and he glared right back.

Miraculously, in the next thirty minutes, we were all getting out of the car and walking into the costume store. Angel instantly grabbed both of her brother's hands and dragged them off into the first girly isle she saw. I snickered at Ig and Gazzy's alarmed expressions at being surrounded by pink. Ella went off with Nudge to try to find a costume, and Dr Martinez just disappeared into the depths of the store, which left Fang and I. We walked casually through the isles in a comfortable silence until Fang nudged me with his elbow.

"Hey Max, there's a costume I bet you would like," he teased, smirking and pointing to a super-slutty nurse outfit.

I smacked him. "Yeah, sure I'd wear that. After Iggy does."

"That can be arranged," he said thoughtfully.

"I was kidding!"

"Doesn't matter. I'm holding you to this."

"Whatever. He'll never wear that."

"I don't know, Max, you can never be sure with Iggy…"

Suddenly, I gasped in genuine horror. "Dear god. MENTAL IMAGES." An image of Iggy wearing that costume appeared in my head… and it was NOT pleasant. AT _ALL._

A small noise rather like a snort escaped Fang's mouth. And another. And another. He couldn't hold back his chuckling, and neither could I.

Actually, we couldn't hold back our hysterical laughter.

My brain didn't even register the fact that this was the first and possibly last time I would ever see Fang laugh. I mean, Fang doesn't laugh. _Ever._ But right now, we were both doubled over, his hands on his knees and mine clutching my sides as tears welled up in my eyes. I leaned against him for support as I gasped for breath, but then the costume caught my eye again, and I couldn't help but sink to the floor at the hilarity of it all.

Fang was next to me, trying to breathe and failing slightly. "You are _sick_," he told me seriously.

"I know that," I sighed. "But that was funny. In a twisted way. Don't think about it… don't think about it…"

"You kids need to get off the floor," scolded a passing employee. I rolled my eyes and got to my feet, Fang following suit.

I like his laugh.

"You do?" Fang asked me, jerking me out of my thoughts. Did I say that out loud?

"Yeah, you did," he said, answering my… Dammit, did I say THAT out loud too?

I felt my face heat up. "Maybe a little," I muttered, not meeting his eyes.

"I like yours," Fang said unexpectedly. And when I say unexpectedly, I mean _unexpectedly._

"What's up with you today?" I questioned, genuinely curious.

He shrugged. "What do you mean?

"Um, let's see: Laughing. Saying… um… what you just said. Generally not being _Fang_."

Fang shrugged again. "Better mood than usual," he answered vaguely. Before I could question him further, Angel ran up to us with the twins trailing along behind her.

"Max! Look what I found!" she squealed, shoving a bag into my hands. I looked down at the label and what was inside.

"Ballerina Fairy," I mused. "Very nice."

_Ballerina Fairy._ I will not puke. For the sake of Angel.

"I know, right?" she exclaimed. "Now we just have to find costumes for Iggy and Gazzy! They're going with Ella and Nudge to the party!"

Fang and I raised an eyebrow at the both of them in unison. Gazzy held up his hands in defense. "They used bambi eyes," he explained.

I nodded understandingly. "I see. You know, I can teach you how to become immune to those..."

Iggy grinned. "Not necessary. We're going to make that party a helluva lot more interesting." Oh, boy. What are they gonna do this time?

"I don't want to know," I sighed.

"Hey Max," Fang said, nudging me again. "I think we have the _perfect_ costume for both of the boys." It actually didn't amaze me that he said all this with a straight face. That's Fang for ya, ladies and gents.

I grinned at him. "That we do."

We ended up not getting the boys to wear the costume Fang and I had picked out (thank god, otherwise I would have to also) and instead they got mobster costumes, with a kit for the pencil mustache and everything. I honestly think they are going to look extremely stupid. We're getting the Ballerina Fairy costume for Angel (barf), Ella was a cat (And not an innocent little kitty, either. I know for a fact that she lied to her mom about the length of the skirt on that thing), and Nudge was some sort of evil fairy thing- all I saw was a bunch of black and purple stuff. She's supposed to be getting her cast off and her brace on a couple days before Halloween, so I guess that'll work.

I don't have to get a costume. Yay! Neither does Fang, since we're walking around with Angel all night. And trust me, if some creeper tries _anything_ on us, he'll end up being hurt so badly he won't be ABLE to go to jail. Dr M is giving me pepper spray just in case… Right. Like I'll need it.

FangPOV

Later that afternoon, I was so bored that I ended up lounging on the couch in the basement watching a movie.

The catch?

Nudge was there too.

The girl comments on everything that happens. EVERYTHING. I'm spending more time trying to block her out than concentrating on all the explosions going on. Yeah, it's a Michael Bay movie...

I actually have no idea where anyone else in the house is, except for Angel and Nudge. Angel announced a while ago that she was going outside, Nudge is here annoying me, and everyone else is being a freakin' hermit and staying in their rooms.

Suddenly, I heard the back door upstairs slam open. "HEY EVERYBODY! COME HERE! YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" Angel yelled excitedly. I bet she just found a ladybug or something… Oh well. I have nothing better to do.

"I can't believe I have to, like, go all the way up the stairs again," Nudge grumbled. "Stupid cast. Stupid stairs. Stupid broken leg."

I shrugged indifferently and went up the stairs behind her- very slowly, I may add- to make sure she didn't fall. Again. And break something. _Again._

I saw that mostly everyone else was making their way into the kitchen, where the back door was. Gazzy and I were the first ones out.

In the backyard, I saw Angel kneeling by a small, black, and seemingly furry shape. Was that… a dog? "Angel, get away from that!" Gazzy yelled, running up to her and dragging her back away from it. The little dog- a Scottie, I think- just sat there, head cocked to the side innocently. Right.

"Did it bite you? Ange, what were you thinking? It could have rabies!" Gazzy said anxiously, being overprotective of her. By now, everyone else was outside too, either worried expressions on their faces or staring at the dog.

"I'm fine. His name's Total," Angel told him, frowning. Oh god, here we go. She already named him…

Iggy walked over to them. "You can't name him, Angel," he said, shaking his head. "We can't keep him."

"That's right," Dr M added. "We can't. You need to be more careful, Angel. And we need to get him out of here."

"But I want Total!" Angel cried unhappily.

"What's with the name?" Ella asked, confused.

Iggy and Gazzy grinned as one. "When she was little, she loved that dog in the Wizard of Oz, but she never pronounced his name right, always as Total instead of Toto or whatever it was," Gazzy explained. "He looks just like the one in the movie, I guess."

"Please, Dr M?" Angel begged, sticking her bottom lip out and… crap.

She brought out the bambi eyes. Huge, shiny, and fake tear-filled. In other words, thirty of those little kitten calendars combined.

Dr M sighed. "I can take him to the vet and check him over, but that does _not_ mean we're keeping him."

"Yay!" she squealed, skipping over to Dr M and hugging her. Dr Martinez smiled slightly, shaking her head.

I do NOT want a dog. Especially a little one that yaps all night. And all day. Twenty-four seven.

Dr Martinez sent Max and Ella inside to get a cardboard box and a blanket to keep him in during the car ride, and Angel coaxed him into it with some bacon. It wasn't much, but we weren't exactly prepared for something like this.

I sincerely hope this dog has rabies. I know, I'm so mean. Whatever.

* * *

><p>WE KEPT THE FREAKING DOG.<p>

Kill. Me. Now.

Dr M took him to the vet, and they said that he didn't have any diseases, just fleas, and that he was relatively healthy- he'd just need a little feeding.

He won't _get_ any food if I have anything to do with it…

Kidding. I wouldn't starve a dog. That's cruel.

But for tonight, he's staying at the vet's so they can get rid of his fleas and do other strange medical things to him. So, I can have one last hopefully peaceful before I'm randomly woken up at three a.m. every night by barking.

Joy.

**Okay. Not my best work. But the next chapter is HALLOWEEN! And there will be Eggy, and Fax if you squint. Trust me, I wish I could just dump all the Fax in randomly, but I'm taking it slow… Really slow.**

**So sorry about this. Again. Keep in mind that I love you all in a non-creeperish, definitely non-stalkerish way.**

**Seriously.**

**-Sierra**


	16. Throwing Up Can Save Your Life

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. I WOULD have updated last night, but it's a long story involving my inability to eat a chimichanga. Which I didn't know was a real food until last night.**

**Anyway. Special thanks to Bacon-lover! YOU ARE SO AWESOME. HAVE THIS BACON. –hands you bacon- This Bacontastic chick reviewed until I had 400! I checked my FF and saw how many I had and was like WHOA.**

**Here's your chapter, minions! You _are_ my minions, like it or not.**

MaxPOV

Happy the Day Before Halloween.

That's right. October thirtieth. The day when small children are flipping out because of tomorrow.

I was pondering the mysteries of life while staring at my slightly soggy cereal when Fang suddenly appeared in the kitchen. Soon you'll know why this surprised me so much…

"Hey," he rasped.

"You're not dead!" I exclaimed happily.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," said Gazzy through a mouthful of cereal.

Confused?

You should be. Allow me to explain. This is going to take a while- it's complicated.

1. A few days after we bought our costumes, Ella came home early with the flu. It was apparently going around her school.

2. Then, both of the twins caught it, probably from Iggy playing nurse- NOT ONE WORD, I DON'T MEAN LIKE THAT- to her, and he sleeps in the same room with Gaz, so…

3. Iggy recovered before Gazzy did and after Ella; they both had it for about five or so days.

4. But they only recovered to have both Fang and Angel catch it- Nudge and I are so far untouched. Fang moved into the twin's room, leaving Iggy to sleep in Fang's, to 'spare Iggy the sounds of random puking in the middle of the night' now that he was healthy.

5. Gazzy and Angel got better the fastest at four days, and Fang once again slept in his own room.

And now, everyone but Fang was flu-free. Well, he_ might_ be healthy, if he finally got out of freaking bed- we have to check.

"MOM! FANG SHOWED SIGNS OF LIFE AND IS NOW IN THE KITCHEN!" yelled Ella. Honestly, he still looked like shit, but a little less so. Trust me… you do _not_ want to know what he and all the other sick people had looked like.

Dr M came in, brandishing a thermometer. "Finally! Here, put this in your mouth." I swear I almost giggled like a five-year-old at the sight of a very disgruntled and disheveled Fang with a thermometer sticking out of his mouth, arms folded across his chest. Seriously, his expression was priceless.

It beeped, and Dr Martinez checked it. "No fever," she told him, smiling. He nodded, and came over to sit at the table.

I squirmed away from him. "Hey, stay away. I don't wanna get sick."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not sick," he denied, voice cracking from a dry throat.

Dr Martinez thrust a glass of water at him. "Drink," she commanded. "And then fill it up again. Drink that. Repeat."

Fang actually obeyed for once, taking a long swig of it. "Better," he admitted, his voice sounding less rough.

"Good. Now I have to go call Brigid if Fang's feeling b-" Dr M started.

"Actually, Fang's feeling quite sick again, isn't that right?" I interrupted. Brigid hadn't been coming over to teach us for the last few days because of all the sick people, and it had been like a freaking vacation for me. No Brigid for a week… Sigh. I guess all good things must come to an end.

"Not working, Max," Dr M said in a warning tone. "And I don't mean she's coming over today- that might not be such a good idea. I'm talking about tomorrow."

"But tomorrow's Halloween!" Nudge protested.

"It's also a Thursday," she reminded her. "And that's the end of it."

There was grumbling from all of us, but we shut up after a look from Dr Martinez. And for the rest of the day, there was much squealing from Angel, annoyance from the twins (oh, THAT'S new), consuming of water from Fang, and avoiding said water consumer from me.

What? I HATE being sick.

* * *

><p>The next day <strong>(Is it just me, or does that sound ominous?)<strong>

"FREEDOM!" Nudge shouted gleefully, punching the air with her fist. There's something very wrong with her… Or she's just really, really excited.

Anyway, Brigid just left, and I share Ella's sentiments- but not for the same reasons. Heh heh.

"Dr M, are you suuure I can't bring Total?" wheedled Angel. She had been going on about bringing him trick-or-treating, but I am not going to be responsible for a nine-year-old and a dog. Honestly, he's not as bad as I thought he'd be- he's actually kinda cute. I've never had a dog. But thank bacon Dr Martinez doesn't let him inside the house…

"No, for the last time, Angel," Dr M said firmly. "You can't bring a dog with you. I'm sure Max and Fang don't want to walk him, and you can't bring him up to everyone's door."

Angel poked out her bottom lip. "Fine."

So we ate dinner after a while- mmmm, chicken- and everyone but Dr M, Fang and I left to go get into their costumes... You know, this is the first Halloween I've celebrated in seven years.

Little did I know it would possibly be the worst.

* * *

><p>Iggy, Gazzy, Ella, and Nudge were all gathered near the front door, waiting for Dr M, and I was stretched out on the couch, Fang leaning against the wall behind me. Angel was busy being adorable and yet sickening in her costume that was overloaded with pink. <strong>(Links to Nudge and Ella's costumes in my profile.)<strong>

Then Dr Martinez finally came in, car keys in hand. "We should go now so you guys won't be late," she said hurriedly. "Max and Fang, bring jackets, it'll get cold- and lock up after you guys leave. Angel, don't even _try_ to sneak Total out with you. Be safe! See you later!"

I yawned and stretched, just a little tired. "You guys ready to go?"

Fang nodded and Angel practically exploded on the spot. "Yes yes yes yes! Can we _please_ go now?" she exclaimed.

I looked out the window. "Not yet. Let's wait a few minutes." You see, the sun wasn't quite set, and the darker it gets, the scarier it is… For her. Mwahahaha.

Her face fell. "Pleeasseee?"

"No. And get your jacket. Dr M's right, it's gonna get colder." I grimaced at the thought. Ew, cold.

"But it doesn't match my costume!"

"Fine, _be_ freezing cold. I don't care." Honestly, I do care. I mean, she was sick just a few days ago. But she's obviously not going to listen to me… Angel crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"Angel, get your jacket on, or_ we're not going!_" I threatened. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang hide a smirk at her slightly frightened expression when she scuttled off to get it.

A few minutes later, I was locking the door behind us, slipping the key into my pocket. "All right, which way do you wanna go first, Ange?"

She pointed down the street to our right. "That way. I wanna see all the decorations." The three of us walked down the sidewalk, past kids in costumes and their unenthusiastic parents. The street was illuminated by the bright glow of the would-be scary decorations that contrasted with the dim streetlights.

As Angel ran up to the first house she saw giving out candy, Fang and I hung back, watching her. "Why is it I that I suddenly want candy?" I murmured. He shrugged. Fine, _don't_ talk. We stood in silence, and I still wanted some freaking candy.

I must pick pocket– or is it puck bucket?- Angel! Mmmm… Snickers…

She skipped back to us in all her sickeningly pink cuteness, a couple pieces of candy in the bottom of her bucket. Which looked like a pumpkin, by the way. What's the point of that?

This routine carried on; Angel getting more candy, me being frustrated that I couldn't have any, and Fang being silent. Boring, huh?

Chocolate… _Must have chocolate_...

IggyPOV

After Dr M dropped us off at Ella's friend's house, I could hear the music all the way from the driveway. Lovely. With my increased hearing, that's gonna be a bitch.

I knew that the Gaz was next to me, and that Ella and Nudge were in front of us by the sound of their footsteps. The light tap of Ella's shoes, the heavier thunk of Nudge's brace- and hell, I know my own brother's walk.

"Watch out, there's a couple steps ahead," whispered Gazzy. I nodded and tried not to trip as I walked up them.

Do you know how hard that is for a blind guy? When you've never been to the place before?

Yeah.

I heard someone- probably Ella- knock on the door, and when it was opened, a wave of sound hit me like a truck.

MOTHER FU...

Music -some pop song- was blasting loudly, so loudly that I wondered if the people here had ears or not. People were yelling over the music to each other, only making it worse, and man, did it take one hell of an effort not to just clap my hands over my ears.

"Ella! Glad you're here! Are these your friends?" said a loud and all-too-perky female voice.

"Yeah! Guys, this is Kim- this is her party!" shouted Ella, struggling to be heard. "Kim, meet Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge!"

"Nice names, and costumes!" Kim shouted back. "I gotta go! Have fun and don't break anything!" I heard her leave. Thank bacon.

"I should warn you, you might not want to drink anything here. Never know what douche might have spiked the punch," Ella explained. "We're leaving at ten- meet outside if we don't find each other before then. Me and Nudge gotta go now, bye!"

* * *

><p>An HOUR later, after much awkwardness, this brings us to the question: What does a blind kid do at a party when the girl who dragged him here and the other girl who happily accompanied them here disappear into the crowd, leaving him with only his brother who is equally uncomfortable in this atmosphere and WHY AM I USING SUCH FANCY WORDS I BARELY KNOW THE MEANING OF?<p>

Well, let's see: Dance? Um, NO. Awkwardly stand on the sidelines while drinking punch to make it look like you're doing something worthwhile? Been warned against that already. Bombs? Can't. Dr M searched us before the party.

And then, Gazzy nudged me. "Ella and Nudge are coming over here." Finally. It's been long enough…

"Hey guys!" greeted Ella. "Sorry about running off like that. I wanted Nudge to meet some friends."

"Whatever. It's fine," Gazzy and I said in unison. You know, despite being twins, we really don't do that often…

"So what have you guys been up to? Find anything to explode yet?" Nudge inquired.

I shook my head. "Sadly, no. Our evil talents have been limited here."

Ella laughed. "Excellent."

Then, I heard another voice, definitely male. "Hey, Ella," it slurred. Alcohol much? "Who's your pretty little friend here? You ain't looking too bad yourself." I bristled at that- Nudge was like my sister, sort of, and Ella was… a good friend.

"Go away, Michael," I heard her say in a disgusted voice. "Get your drunk ass out of here."

"Hey, don't be like that." 'Michael' took a step towards her. (What? I can hear these things.) Gazzy and I stepped in front of the girls- or I at least assume that's where we were.

"My brother and I think it would be best if you left these two girls alone," Gazzy said in a warning tone. Yeah, chivalry's not that dead.

"And I don't give two fucks," he drawled. My fists clenched. Michael started to push past Gazzy and I, and after that it all happened too fast for me to really know what was going on. All I heard was a yell, the crunch of my own nose breaking, and a shriek from Nudge as I staggered back, hitting my head on something hard and slipping into unconsciousness.

**(MEANWHILE…)**

MaxPOV

So, we've been out here for about an hour. I finally got some chocolate (woohoo!) and Angel's bucket is getting heavier. It's also very, very chilly, at nine in the evening.

And Fang is acting weird. Really weird.

Sign one: The wind blows, rustling the dead leaves on the sidewalk. Fang shivers. _Shivers._ As far as I know, he's got a really good resistance to cold.

Sign two: Not one word. NOT ONE WORD has he uttered since we left the house. I mean, Fang's quiet and all, but around me? Not this quiet.

Sign three: Well, you're about to find out.

We passed under another streetlight, Angel skipping along ahead of us, oblivious to the cold. I finally looked up at him; I hadn't for a while, except for when we were in the dark, and I wouldn't have noticed what I noticed now, in the light.

"Fang, you're as white as a sheet!" I exclaimed. It was true; his usually olive complexion was abnormally pale. I halted there in the small pool of light, examining him. He and Angel stopped walking, too.

"No I'm not," he muttered, and started to continue down the path again. I grabbed his arm.

"Are you all right?" I was genuinely concerned. If Fang was sick, he shouldn't be out here. I raised my hand to his forehead, feeling it. He tried to brush it away, but I didn't let him. "You're burning up!"

"I'm fine," he insisted, voice quiet. But then, his face twisted, and he pushed past Angel and I, heading for the nearest trashcan and throwing up into it.

"Shit," I murmured, hoping Angel wouldn't hear. "I knew it…"

Angel tugged on my hand. "Max, does this mean we have to go home now?" Her lip trembled a little, adorably so. "I don't wanna go yet."

"We'll see, Ange," I told her. "Let me see how he is." I cautiously walked over to where Fang was still leaning over the trash can, looking a little unsteady but apparently… um… done. "You should've told me you were feeling bad."

"I didn't want to disappoint Angel," he mumbled. "She wanted to do this."

"You're an _idiot,_ you know that?"

He answered by throwing up again. Trick-or-treaters passed us with disgusted expressions, and I glared at them until they looked away, frightened.

Oh, boy. What do I do now? "You need to go home," I said firmly.

He raised his head and shook it. "I can stay. Angel's not done."

"I didn't say we had to go. Just you."

"I'm not leaving you guys alo-"

"Fang. Do I look like someone who can't take care of myself?" I glared at him and crossed my arms for emphasis. "And you'll only get sicker if you stay. We'll be fine. We'll stay where there's lots of people around, in the light, and we won't go up to any suspicious-looking houses. Now go to that gas station around the corner and call Dr M. Have her pick you up, and get some sleep."

He wasn't really in any position to object. "Fine," he sighed. "But be safe, Max."

I nodded, rolling my eyes, and he shivered again; now, I knew it was from a fever. "Go," I commanded him. "Before you puke all over me." I handed him some money Dr M had given us in case of an emergency, and we had to call her. Fang obeyed, leaving in the direction of the gas station. Idiot. He was freaking sick! AGAIN!

I hate relapses.

Angel and I continued to get candy; I went up with her to the porch now, not wanting to be alone. Silly, I know. But no, I didn't take any candy. Sadly. A few houses later, I noticed something- or more accurately, someone- out of the corner of my eye. A man, dressed casually, just strolling along the sidewalk. Nothing suspicious.

Except for the fact that when I glanced again five minutes later, he was still there. _Following us._

I leaned down to Angel, steering her away from the next house and back the way we came. "Angel, we need to head home now," I murmured in her ear, keeping my voice calm and contrasting the fear that was swirling in my stomach.

She looked up at me, confused. "Why?"

"When I tell you to, drop your candy bucket on the ground and start picking up the candy. Do it. Now."

She did so, and it spilled on the sidewalk. I noticed that the number of people out on the street was gradually decreasing. _Shit._

We started to pick it up, putting each piece back into her bucket with a dull thunk. I leaned close to her as I worked. "Don't freak out. Angel, someone's following us. We need to walk faster. Stay in the light. Do _not_ look back, under any circumstances. If I tell you to run, then you run as fast as you can towards home. Got it?"

She nodded fearfully, eyes wide. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"I know. Now let's go." She picked up her bucket and we stood, picking up our pace. The man did too, a few yards away from us, down the sidewalk. More and more porch lights were flicking off by the minute, darkening the nearly empty street. Crap. My heart was beating so fast I'm pretty sure anyone could hear it.

Our stalker was gaining on us. "Angel, I'm going to count to three, and then we're going to run," I said shakily, praying the man wouldn't hear me. "One. Two. Three!"

Angel and I broke into a sprint- well as much as someone as small as her could sprint. I heard the footsteps behind us grow faster, but not closer- blood roared in my ears as we bolted down the sidewalk, no people in sight. Why hadn't I noticed this earlier? We stayed out too late…

As much as I hate to say it, I should have listened to Fang.

Lack of oxygen was burning my lungs. Crap, crap, crap. This is _bad._ And suddenly, the sound of footsteps stopped, to be replaced by the low growl of a car.

_We're screwed._

I glanced back, still running, and saw that the car, a small silver one, was driving away from us.

What. The. Hell? Is this some sort of trap?

At the moment, I didn't care. I just skidded to a stop, nearly collapsing on the spot, and Angel ran into me, making me stumble backwards. She was sniffling a little, and I saw a stray tear make its way down her face. But I was too busy trying to breathe to comfort her.

The car didn't come back.

When I could finally talk, I awkwardly patted her on the head, not being a hugger. At all. "We need to get to that gas station I sent Fang to and call Dr M, okay? Then she can pick us up, and we can go home." Angel nodded and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Our plans for walking home had really gotten f-ed up… first Fang, now us.

Luckily, we weren't too far from it. There was three phones outside of it that took quarters; I slipped two in and dialed the home number.

_Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring._

ANSWERING MACHINE? DAMN YOU, KARMA!

Why didn't Fang answer? Even if Dr M is gone?

_Maybe because he's sick, and probably asleep…_

Damn that logical voice in my head. Why the hell hadn't I bothered to learn Dr M's cell phone number?

Wait. _Cell phone_. Ella has a cell phone. And I know her number.

I put two quarters in, glancing down at Angel's worried expression before dialing her number.

_Ring._

"Hello?"

"Ella! Ella, what the hell is all that noise in the background?" There was music, and lots of shouting.

"Max? I'm at a party. Well, not for long. Mom's on her way over here because-"

"What? So that's why she didn't pick up! Anyway, Ella, I need her cell phone number. Angel and-"

"What? I can't hear you!"

"Go outside!"

"I can't!"

"Why?"

"Because Iggy and Gazzy just got into a fight with this drunk douche who tried to feel up me and Nudge, and Iggy's passed out!" What the...? Trust them to find trouble anywhere.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! Gaz is looking kinda bad- it got ugly after the guy knocked Ig out and broke his nose." Oh, broken noses hurt like a bitch… "But he looks way worse than both of them combined." Good. They know how to fight. (Well, at least Gazzy does…)

"Well can you give me her number before she gets there?"

"Her what?"

"NUMBER!"

"Oh! 486-2840! Hey, I gotta go! Bye!"

"Ella, wai-" but it was too late. She hung up.

Lovely.

I fed the machine the last two quarters I had (SHE HAD BETTER FREAKING ANSWER) and dialed the number Ella gave me. Dr M picked up on the first ring.

"Who is it?"

"It's Max. Listen, Angel and I need you to-"

"Let me guess: Pick you up?"

"How'd you know?"

"Wild guess. Nobody else got sick, right?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you when we get home. Or in the car. Anyway, we're at 13th and Perry street- same gas station you picked Fang up from."

"Okay. I should be there in about the minutes. See you soon." _Click._

What is _with_ those people and hanging up on me?

Angel and I went inside and sat at one of the little cheap, dirty tables near the window. She leaned against me, closing her eyes, and I let her stay there and rest. I mean, she just got scared out of her mind and then ran for her life- wouldn't you be tired? I was too, but no way could I close my eyes, even for a minute. The cashier kept shooting me strange glances; it's not every day a teenager and a little girl walk into a gas station at nine thirty p.m., no parents in sight, even if it is Halloween.

About ten minutes later, as promised, Dr M's car showed up. I shook Angel awake and practically had to drag her outside and over to the car.

When I got inside, a pretty freakin' messy sight greeted me. Iggy was awake in the backseat, holding his still-bleeding nose, and Gaz was next to him, with the start of what would be a very nice black eye and a bloody lip. He grinned at me, and then winced. "What, never seen a guy who got into a fight?"

"I've had worse," I said dryly. He has no idea… I moved Angel over to sit by Nudge and Ella, climbing into the front seat. Dr Martinez gave me a questioning look, but I shook my head. "When we get home." I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, drifting off.

Explanations can wait.

? POV

The man in the silver car took out his cell phone, hitting speed dial. The person he called picked up on the first ring.

"Did you find him?" they asked.

"Sir, the Martinez family was a dead end. He wasn't at the house when we checked, or with any of the other children, not even the two girls I followed. There's no sign of him here."

"Keep looking," the person on the other line growled, hanging up.

The man in the car shuddered to think of what would happen if he didn't find this boy… Sam was not very forgiving.

**SEE? THROWING UP _WILL_ SAVE YOUR LIFE! Told you so.**

**'Kay, so my original plan for Eggy kinda got smashed to bits…**

**Looking back on this chapter, there's basically NO romance! Sorry, but I wanted to put a little more of the whole Sam thing in there… And trust me, he's not giving up yet. Not by far.**

**-Sierra**


	17. I Reeealllly Liiiike You

**Hey guys! Glad you liked that last chapter. Anyway, some people have been complaining about profanity- sorry, I'll try to cut down a little. But when I'm really pissed at someone/something, I end up cussing a lot in the next chapter I post… instead of cussing at my family… Because I can't.**

**Chap. Ter. SEVENTEEN.**

GazzyPOV

Once we managed to drag Max and Angel inside and to the table, leaving Nudge with instructions to keep them awake, Dr M and Ella took me and Iggy upstairs to Ella and Max's bathroom to clean up- she explained that our bathroom was unavailable, as Fang was sleeping on there.

Don't ask me- I really, really don't know. But as we passed by the door, I heard a retching noise, and understood. Poor guy. Sick again.

I noticed that when we got into the girl's bathroom- I'd never been in here, by the way- Ella looked from the shower to Iggy and blushed, making me raise my eyebrows. My brother and I are gonna have to talk later…

Dr M got out the antiseptic (ouch) and Ella started to clean up the blood around Iggy's nose. "I'm gonna have to realign this," I heard her mutter under her breath, and she looked to Dr M for permission. Her mom gave her a nod.

"Wait, what are you- OW!" he yelled as she suddenly snapped his nose back into place.

"Wimp," I muttered, but contradicted myself in the same moment as I winced when Dr M attacked my face with an antiseptic-soaked cotton ball. Iggy tried to shoot me a glare, but instead got the wall behind me. I smirked.

When we got back downstairs, I saw that Nudge had failed in her mission to keep Max and Angel awake. Well, Angel was, but Max wasn't…

TIME FOR REVENGE.

Unfortunately, my head wasn't clear enough for me to be original right now, so I just grabbed a glass of cold water, exactly the same thing that she'd done. Let's see how she likes to be freezing co-

"No, Gazzy," Dr M commanded. "Put the water down, or drink it. No dumping it on Max." Iggy snickered at me.

"But-" I began.

"NO." She shook Max awake.

"Five more minutes…" Max mumbled, laying her head back down on the table.

And you know what it was SO worth it to do?

Dump it on her head anyway.

"Who did that?" she growled now fully awake. "I _will_ maim you." I quickly took a seat next to Iggy, looking away innocently and trying not to crack up at her expression- it was like a really pissed cat who just had to take a bath. Dr M shot me a look that said _you are in so much trouble._

I live for being in trouble and doing what I'm not supposed to. So does this bother me? No.

"We'll deal with it later, Max," sighed Dr Martinez. "Gazzy, Iggy, you guys go first."

Iggy started off. "Well, this dou- jerk named Michael came over to us and started bugging Ella and Nudge-"

"-and we told him to back off-" I cut in.

"-and he tried to move past us to get to them-"

"-so I punched him in the face-"

"and he attacked me and broke my nose, and I hit my head and passed out-"

"And much fighting ensued," I finished flatly. "Then, Ella called you and here we are." I skipped the gory details of what happened after Ig hit his head- I was freakin' _pissed_. Punching a _blind guy._ (Who was also my brother.) Real fair. I hit the asshole in the stomach, and he aimed a blow at my face- and didn't miss, giving me this nice black eye and bloody lip. Two in one. I was impressed.

And also in pain, so I kicked him in the nuts and he was on the floor in seconds.

"I could've done better," said Max in a bored tone, wringing out her hair. "I wish I'd been there."

"You would have ended up killing him, you know that, right?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I know," she assured me, leaning back in her chair. "So wait a second- Ella told me on the phone that this guy was drunk."

Dr M's eyebrows practically disappeared into her hair. "Ella, was there alcohol at this party?"

Ella gave a nervous grin. "Uhhh… maybe?"

"We'll be talking about this later, young lady," she told her sharply. "But I do trust that none of you have been drinking, by your seemingly normal behavior." I absentmindedly nodded in agreement. I don't think I ever really would drink; it messed up my parents pretty bad, along with the drugs. So I'll pass.

Than she turned to Iggy and I. "Thank you, though," she said sincerely. "Both of you. For defending my daughter. And Nudge." Ig and I just shrugged, feeling awkward. You see, people are usually yelling at us, not thanking us…

"Anyway. Max? Care to explain what happened?" she asked, clasping her hands.

Max leaned forward on her elbows. "Long story short, we sent Fang home, about thirty minutes later, some creeper starts following us. Angel and I ran, and to long after, he got in some car and just drove away. We didn't see him again after that." I suddenly felt fiercely protective of Angel; no one hurts my family- or tries to. Not anymore.

"OHMYGOSH THAT IS SO SCARY I WOULD'VE BEEN SCREAMING AND YELLING AND FREAKING OUT AND-"

"NUDGE!" yelled Max. "Honestly, it's not that big of a deal. We're fine, and he's gone. Nothing happened."

"Not that big of a deal? Max, that's a huge deal! Somebody was stalking you! I knew it was a bad idea not to get you and Angel too when I picked Fang up!" Dr Martinez exclaimed. "From now on, no more going out alone- for any of you. And girls, you have to have one of the boys with you if you're going to go anywhere without me."

"That's sexist," Max hissed under her breath. I smirked at her, but she gave me her Ultimate Glare Of Doom, and I hate to say it- but I flinched.

Dammit…

"It was really scary," Angel whispered, looking up at me from her position diagonal from mine. And like any good big brother would do, I reached out and squeezed her hand.

What? Not like me, I know. Look, I may not show it, but I love my little sister. A lot. How could anyone not?

Oh god. I sound like Dr Suess or something…

Dr M continued to argue with Ella and Max, who seemed to be growing more irritable by the second, and Nudge quietly (well, as quietly as someone with a brace on their leg can) edged out of the room. Angel started nodding off in her chair, so I shook her awake and tapped Ig's shoulder to show him that we should go now. We all slipped out unnoticed by Dr M and up to our rooms.

Angel's room was the first one in the hallway, so she stumbled inside by herself and Iggy started to head down towards our room. I grabbed is arm. "Wait."

"Why?"

"Well, when was the last time we said goodnight to Angel? As in, in her room?"

"Uh, I don't know… before we came here? So?"

I felt like whacking him in the head. Hard. Idiot… "So, she got the shit scared out of her tonight!" I hissed.

"Touché." Iggy followed me into Angel's (almost scarily) pink bedroom. She was curled up in the middle of her bed, eyes half-closed. I sat down next to her, Iggy on her other side, and she smiled sleepily up at us.

Despite how much I hate my parents, they made one cute kid. No, not me, Angel.

You know you were all thinking it.

"That was pretty scary for you, huh?" Ig asked her quietly. She just nodded, moving her head to rest on his leg.

"But that's over, and if that creeper shows up again, he'll get his a- butt whooped by us," I promised. We probably actually couldn't do that, as that guy probably had a gun or something, but if it made Angel feel better… "And Max," I tacked on as an afterthought. What? She probably would.

There was no reply from Angel. Her eyes were shut, and her breathing even; she's asleep.

On Iggy.

Ahaha.

"Don't tell me; she's asleep," he whispered flatly.

"Deeply," I whispered back, smirking at him.

"How do I not wake her up while leaving?"

"You don't."

"Help me!"

"Nope."

"I hate you."

"I know." I left the room, leaving Iggy there with a sleeping Angel on his lap.

FangPOV (Finally.)

I woke up, my cheek pressed against the cool, tiled floor of the bathroom, feeling like crap.

And by crap, I mean it was like someone took my head and ran it over with a large truck. What the hell happened last night? God, I hope I didn't get drunk or something… Dr M would kill me…

Oh. Wait. I got sick and Max sent me home. Huh. I actually have no idea what happened after that.

There was light filtering in through the window, making the back of my head hot, but I didn't move. I think if I did, I may or may not puke again. And I don't want that… even though it's inevitable.

So I just closed my eyes and lay there for a few minutes, eyes closed and doing nothing about my splitting headache, until I heard footsteps outside the door. It opened a crack, and I still kept my eyes shut. "Hey. Sleeping Beauty. Iggy and Gazzy need to take a shower, so you need to move out." Max.

I just opened my eyes and groaned unhappily in response. "Fang, if you weren't sick, I would totally kick you right now." Well, that sounds painful.

"Mmmmpphhh," was my reply. Words… they don't want to come out of my mouth…

Max crouched in front of me, bending her head down so she could look me in the eye. "If I move you, are you gonna throw up on me?" I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded the tiniest bit.

"Can you move yourself?"

Nod.

"Will you puke anyway?"

Nod.

"Well then. I'll just wait outside while you… do that." She left, closing the door behind her, and I heard her lean against it outside.

I'll just skip over what happened after that and lead us straight to where I was… ahem… done, and sitting up on the floor with my back to the bathtub. Max came in cautiously.

"Dr M wants to know if you need anything."

"Headache," was all I said. She disappeared again, and I dragged myself off the floor and down to my bedroom, collapsing on my bed. I tried to sleep, because that's all I wanted to do… but I couldn't because of my freaking headache and that weird burning feeling behind my eyes… you know, the one you have when you have a fever. It's weird. And annoying. And also way too hot in here.

IT IS WAY TOO FREAKING HOT IN HERE.

I felt like I couldn't get out of my sweatshirt fast enough, leaving me in my black t-shirt. Better…

"Hey. Got some stuff for your head from Dr M. And some water." Max walked in and over to my bed. "She wants to know if you're hungry." I just gave her a_ do YOU think I'm freaking hungry?_ look. She just nodded and handed me a glass of water and two little orange pills. I swallowed them and rolled over, setting the water on the floor.

Oh damn. Now it's freakin' cold in here. I dragged my covers back over me and stared at Max, who had just plopped down in the chair at my desk and was now facing at me. She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Hey, why is my room spinning?

"Why are you still here?" I mumbled the question, too tired to talk normally. Must… sleep… No! Keep eyes open.

"Because I'm bored, and Dr M assigned me to making sure you don't go all delirious on us. Your fever's pretty high, you know." Did they… take my temperature when I was asleep…?

"No. Go away."

"Nope." She popped the p when she said it, and it just sounded _so funny_ I almost laughed. Whoa… since when are my walls green? And they have nice little pink polka dots on them…

I sat up suddenly. "We have to repaint my walls," I ordered Max. Couldn't she see what's wrong with them?

Max gave me strange look. "Your walls are fine."

"No, no, no! I don't want them to be green and pink. Just pink." Duh, Max!

"Ookay. I think it's time for you to go to sleep, Fang." She started to walk towards me.

"I don't want to sleep! I have a very important business conference to attend! My flight leaves in an hour! I'll be late!" It's all the way in Canada, you know. Where beer runs in the streams and pancakes are eaten every day!

She pushed me down so I was lying on my back. I struggled against her hands, and she glared at me. "Fang. You're going to go to sleep now, okay? We'll tell your… business partners… that you couldn't make it and they need to reschedule." Oh. That's better. I relaxed, knowing that my associates would be able to schedule it for another time. Who are they, may you ask? Well, naturally, they're an assortment of Australian wild animals!

Max started leave, but she can't go yet! "Wait!" I called after her. "You forgot to hug meeeee."

"I'm not going to hug you."

"Yes you are!"

"No, I'm not. You're delirious, and will undoubtedly regret everything later."

"I am not! Hug me anyway?"

"NO!"

"You're mean!"

" I know. Now go to sleep, you idiot." WHY WON'T SHE HUG ME?

"I won't sleep if you don't hug me!"

"And I will slap you if you don't stop asking me to hug you."

"…Hug me?"

She sighed. "If I hug you, will you shut up?"

"Yeah."

"Will you allow me to hold this over your head and use it as blackmail for the rest of your life?"

"I don't know what that means, but sure!"

"I'm going to have a _lot_ of fun with this," she told me, and gave me a quick one-armed hug. Not a real hug. That's not good enough! I wrapped both of my arms around her before she could leave.

"Fang, LET GO OF ME!"

"You didn't hug me right!"

"I'M GOING TO _KILL_ YOU IF YOU DON'T LET GO RIGHT FREAKING NOW!"

"No you won't. You love me! Eduardo the gnome told me you did."

"I don't 'love' you! LET GO!"

"You smell like chocolate."

"I DON'T CARE! You smell like puke!"

"I like chocolate!"

"SO?"

"I like you!"

"I know that!"

"No, I REEAALLLY LIIIKE you! You're pretty." Doesn't she get it?

"This is freaking _weird_!" She punched my arm really hard, making me let go, and ran out of the room.

I just wanted a hug…

MaxPOV

I… am _beyond_ extremely confused right now.

Okay, for one thing, I know Fang's fever is too high. I know he needs sleep. I also know that he just freaking hugged me.

I will excuse that only because he's sick. Of course, I'm still going to blackmail him, but at the time he hugged me, I was too busy concentrating on breathing and the fact that he was NOT Jeb and I CAN trust him not to hurt me. Well, I think. I hope. Seriously. If it had been anyone else…

Who knows what I would have done?

I passed by Dr M on the way to the basement. "I heard yelling. How's Fang?" she asked me. I stopped and turned to face her.

"He hugged me. That should answer your question," I told her flatly, turning and continuing on down the stairs.

I lay down on the comfortable couch we had in the basement- and by comfortable, I mean really freaking soft, soft enough to sleep on. For a long time. I grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV, really not even bothering to watch it- just for background noise, so I wouldn't be entirely alone with my thoughts; it's not a good thing, when you're thinking too deeply…

WAIT A SECOND. HOLD THE FREAKING IMAGINARY PHONE.

It's flashback time.

"_You smell like chocolate."_

_"I DON'T CARE! You smell like puke!"_

_"But I like chocolate!"_

_"SO?"_

_"I like you!"_

_"I know that!"_

_"No, I REEAALLLY LIIIKE you! You're pretty."_

WHAT?

Deep breaths. Panic not, Max. Sound like Yoda, I do.

And remember, Fang has a fever. A _fever._ Fevers cause people to say things they don't mean.

Did he seriously call me _pretty_? Pretty… it just… that word should never come out of Fang's mouth, and certainly not to describe me! He's Fang! He doesn't say 'pretty'!

So he can't possibly mean that, right? Or at least in the way I think he does. Right.

I forced myself to quit dwelling on the matter and just watch TV; it's settled, and he didn't mean it. Of course he didn't. He wouldn't.

And yet, one tiny, microscopic but wanted every word to be true… (Except for the business conference and pink walls.)

It scared me. A lot.

And I'm telling Fang what he said as soon as he isn't sick anymore.

**Well. I know it's a bit cliché- but give me a freaking break here! Don't you dare complain, because I'm finally giving you Fax, and from now on, there shall be MORE! Slooowly, but way faster than it's been going so far.**

**So. Very sorry for the wait. For the update & Faxness.**

**But anyway, go now, my minions, and check out rocketdog791's story Out With The Old, In With The New. I confess to being her beta. But she's a great writer! So go read it.**

**Fang: No more rhyming! I mean it!**

**Me: What are you- OH! Anybody wanna peanut?**

**(Princess Bride. Hilarious movie.)**

**-Sierra**


	18. Awkward

**-hides behind computer- Um… hey?**

**Fang: Don't kill her…**

**Me: Please, don't. It would be nice not to die. Sorry for the wait, I really am. I just had a whole lot of thinking to do… on this…**

**Anyway. Here's my thanks to people for this chapter:**

**-The AMAZINGLY BACONTASTIC Sgt. Socks for the idea for this. My writer's block was so bad…. –shudder- Now GO READ HER STORIES. She's freaking amazing! I'm serious, she's one of the best writers I've ever seen on here. **_**Do it.**_

**-wingedgymnast12, for slapping some sense into me. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. Fang was actually the one that slapped me, but she gave me advice and kept me out of the crazy house. So thanks :D**

**-Erin319, for telling me that this chapter DIDN'T suck like I thought it did. You all owe me actually _posting_ this to her.**

MaxPOV

Nightmares.

I freaking_ hate_ them.

They'll wake you up at three in the morning and not let you go back to sleep. They'll scare the living crap outta you. Hell, they'll even take the _one_ person you're closest to and twist their face into the one of the man you hate the most out of anyone in the world.

Let's just say that this one involved Fang. And Jeb.

I'll leave the rest for you to figure out. You think I want to recount that?

I opened the refrigerator door, the light making me squint; my eyes weren't used to it. Yes, I'm getting food in the middle of the night… So? I'm hungry.

Eventually, finding no cookies or bacon (a crime!) I just grabbed some yogurt. Delicious yogurt…. With fruit… Yum.

Spoon in hand, I climbed onto the cool granite countertop and sat there, cross-legged. While I ate, I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the silence, the feeling of being alone… Which I now realize I don't enjoy as much as I used to. I guess I'm so used to having someone around me- namely Fang- that my lone-wolf mentality is slowly dissipating.

And surprisingly, I don't mind. I swore I'd never get close to these people, and yet… they're like my own family. The only thing I'd give this up for is to have my real one back.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and heading my way. I made no move to leave, just kept calmly eating my yogurt; I didn't care who came in. I'm going to eat my freaking food and NO ONE WILL STOP ME.

Not surprisingly, it was Fang. (And by not surprisingly, I mean I almost freaking _expected_ that. Fate has it in for me, the bastard.) He didn't even notice me at first; he just stumbled in, eyes half-closed and hair beyond messy. Fang tripped over the edge of his own pants and slammed his head into the side of the fridge, then stepping back and muttering a few curses. Klutz.

I froze, not wanting him to see me; and if he does, just avoid all eye contact, Max… because that opens a door for conversation, and like I want that. With _him_. Can you say awkward? Well, for me. Fang has no idea what happened two days ago.

I was completely still and silent- damn, Fang's been rubbing off on me with his ninja ways… He didn't even see me when he opened the fridge and got a glass of water. But when he turned around…

Oh, _shit._

FangPOV

I squinted at the blurred silhouette in front of me. "Max? What are you doing up?" Her face was hidden in shadow, but I recognized the blond hair. Why is she… sitting on the countertop… eating yogurt…?

At three in the morning?

"I could ask you the same thing," she said nervously. Nervously? Max isn't nervous. Ever.

"Thirsty." I gestured to my glass of water. "You?"

"Hungry." She did the same with her yogurt cup as I did with my water. I sipped it slowly, needing a reason to stick around; I was curious as to why Max wouldn't look at me. Not even a freaking _glance. _She wouldn't say a word, either...

Eventually, my curiosity outweighed my respect for her privacy. I had to know. And I'm not a cat, so it's apparently my lucky day not to die... I walked over to the countertop and sat next to her, our knees touching- I couldn't help that; there wasn't room for both us in the first place. "You're quiet tonight," I murmured. Or is it today? I don't know, or care.

Max looked up at me, finally. "And _you_ seem to be feeling better."

Not the point, Max… I tapped my head. "Yeah. No fever, I checked." She mumbled something I couldn't hear under her breath, and I continued. "I'll say it again- you're quiet."

She looked away. "I know."

I leaned slightly closer, not even noticing that I did so. "Tell me."

"You don't want to know."

"The hell I don't, Max."

She sighed, still facing away. "You have _no_ idea."

"What's going on, Max? You _know_ you can tell me." The words just slipped out of my mouth, almost as if on instinct.

Max finally turned back to face me; our noses were so close they almost touched. Awkward much? I blinked rapidly in surprise a few times, and withdrew.

"Some things were said. When you had a high fever. And some very strange things were done." Her cheeks took on a slight pink tinge.

Oh, hell. I remember nothing from that. Nothing! What did I do? "Like what?"

"Like… Well, to put it simply, you hugged me, said you like me, and called me pretty." She rushed that sentence so much it was almost like Nudge had said it.

But it still hit me with full effect.

My mouth literally dropped open. _Literally._ That's how surprised I was. I reached a hand up to close it- not even kidding here…

Max slipped off the countertop and threw her yogurt cup away, still not saying a word. I finally collected my thoughts enough to form a response, and stood as well.

"Uh, yeah. Fevers... they make you say the strangest things," I chuckled nervously.

_Wrong_ thing to say. You know, because Max is a girl. And girls always twist things around.

Hurt clearly flashed in Max's eyes. "Yeah. They do, don't they?" Her tone was neutral, but the area around her even felt cold.

She started to leave, but on instinct, I grabbed her by the arm. "I didn't mean it like that. You are," I blurted.

Holyfreakingshit I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT.

Max slipped her arm out of my now-loose grasp, cheeks flaming. Max is_ blushing_… "Uh, thanks," she muttered, looking down.

The most awkward silence of my life ensued for the next two minutes.

Not kidding. I don't even know why we stayed. But we stood there, seemingly frozen in place and not daring to meet each other's eyes. And suddenly, something clicked in my brain. "Uh, I should get back to bed," I mumbled. "It's late."

Max nodded, still not looking at me. Or even in my direction. "Yeah. Me too." We took opposite exits from the kitchen, only to meet back up at the stairs.

I went up at the same time she did, each of us on opposite sides, staying as close to the wall (read: as far away from each other) as physically possible.

Why do I get the feeling that from here on out, nothing's going to be the same? I mean, I can't believe I said that, unconscious or no. And now I'm freaking confused.

Because I'm not sure that I didn't mean it when I said I liked her… and not as a friend.

Why does Max have to be so _confusing?_

MaxPOV

Just one thing:

WHY DO I CARE IF FANG THINKS I'M FREAKING _PRETTY?_

Wow, I _desperately_ need sleep. I practically have _no_ idea what just happened. Except for the fact that Fang. Consciously. Called. Me. Pretty. And he wasn't crazy from a fever. Damn that boy and his confusticatingness!

For now, I'm going to pretend that's a word.

**Well… You like? I REALLY hope so. Because I worked on this. For a while. And risked grounding for it. And I KNOW it's short. I know. I just wanted to get something posted so you guys wouldn't eat me alive… Because then I'd come back from the dead and chase you with Sasha, my chainsaw ^.^**

**-Sierra**


	19. Paintball

**GUYS I'M TOTALLY FLABBERGASTED BECAUSE SOMEONE MCDOODLED MY FIZGIZZIL OUTSIDE OF THE QUREAZON FOSIZZLE PLACE.**

**Fang: Sierra's slightly incoherent as of this moment.**

**Me: Kap meg ezt a cupcake ki a nadrágomat!**

**Fang; And now she's speaking Hungarian…**

**Me: Miért van az, citrom illatú emu vadászott rám?**

**Fang: The lemon scented emu isn't stalking you. Calm down.**

**Me: -glare-**

**Fang: She's 'flabbergasted' because she found out she has over twenty four thousand hits on Scars alone.**

**Me: -vigorous nod-**

**Fang: Special thanks to Sgt. Socks from Sierra. There was much more adjectives in there, but I won't say them.**

FangPOV **(Saturday, sometime in the afternoon…)**

I really know how to mess things up, don't I?

Things… have been different lately. Between me and Max. (But hey, what was I gonna say, that she's ugly? Come on!) She won't talk to me unless it's absolutely necessary, and she seems... well, awkward one minute and then a little on edge, kinda nervous, the other.

It makes me think that I'm not the only thing on her mind. I don't know what else… but something's up. She's hiding something from me.

I leaned against her doorframe, ankles crossed and arms over my chest. A badass pose, I know. Her back was to me- she was at her desk, reading the book Brigid had assigned us.

"Max," I called abruptly, causing her to quite literally jump out of her chair.

"Jesus, Fang! Are you trying to give me a freaking heart attack? I'm too young to die!" Max's eyes were wide as she caught herself on the edge of her desk.

I ignored her. "We have to talk."

"Okay, we can talk. Have you ever noticed how abnormally fuzzy peaches are?"

"Keeping secrets isn't nice, Max," I said casually, ignoring her last statement. Peaches?

"Secrets? What secrets?"

"You're a terrible liar." I smirked at her, knowing that she'd crack soon.

"I am not," she snapped.

"Riiight. I thought we were past the whole 'keeping secrets' thing, anyway," I said lightly.

She ran a hand through her hair. "I know we are. I just… I don't want you to be mad, and if you say 'I told you so,' may God have mercy on your soul."

I shrugged. "I sold my soul for bacon. Talk."

Max bit her lip. "Remember how you got sick and I sent you home, so that me and Angel were alone? On Halloween?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"Some guy followed us for a while. We ran, and he just left all of a sudden- don't know why, don't really care. It's over now, so don't flip your shit," Max told me, an edge of nervousness in her voice.

It took me a moment to register what she said, and then another one not to explode.

As in, spontaneously combust. Blood and gore spattered all over the walls. It all starts with the blood trickling out of your eyes and ears… and next thing you know, BOOM!

I closed my eyes so that the lasers that now took their place wouldn't burn her to a crisp. "Max," I said as calmly as possible. (Be very afraid when I use my calm voice.) "You. Are. An. Idiot. You are the _epitome_ of all idiots. If you look in the dictionary next to the word idiot, you'll see a picture of yourself. And you know what? I. Freaking. _Told you so_."

"I _told_ you not to say that," she growled.

"I don't care, Max. Something like that isn't going to happen again, not if I can help it."

"Well, maybe you can't! Don't get all overprotective on me! I hate that!"

"I'm not being overprotective, I just couldn't stand it if something happened to y- if something happened! Don't you ever use your head?" I glared at her, fists clenched. How can she be so _nonchalant_ about her safety? I care whether she gets hurt or not!

Max opened her mouth to retort, but then Gazzy, who appeared behind me in the doorway, grinning like a Cheshire cat, interrupted us. "Hey, you two can stop your screaming match now. Which everyone can hear, by the way. We're going to play paintball," he announced, grinning.

Max and I both whirled on him. "What?"

He nodded. "Paintball."

Paintball… I've played once before when I was younger, and I was awesome, if I do say so myself.

Gazzy tapped his foot impatiently. "Well? Come on, we're all going! Wear old clothes. Sweatshirts, jeans, sneakers are the best for this- get changed. Prepare for ultimate pwnage!" he exclaimed, and disappeared down the stairs.

Did he just say 'pwnage?'

Psh. Gamers.

Max glared at me. "This isn't over."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, struggling to shove down the frustration and anger that was urging me to keep yelling at her. "Yeah, it is. We shouldn't be yelling at each other over this- but our tempers just aren't compatible. Forget about it." I know for a fact I won't.

Max nodded. "Fine, fine. Whatever. But speaking of forgetting..."

"The other night?" I guessed.

"It never happened." Max looked down.

"Agreed." I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. This is going down in the books as one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life...

"Starting now," she ordered. "So, what were we just talking about?"

The corner of my mouth rose. "I don't remember."

"Good boy." She grinned back. "Now go get changed so we can shoot some people."

MaxPOV

I couldn't believe that Dr M caved to Gazzy and Iggy about paintball. It just doesn't seem like something she'd want us to do; too many opportunities for us to get in trouble. She wants us all to go- except for Angel and Nudge. Nudge was furious that she can't go because of her brace- she's not supposed to overexert herself or something. And apparently, Angel is too small for this, and her brothers don't want her to get hurt. She didn't mind much.

Somewhere between now and the time I quit having urges to stab Fang with a rusty knife, he'd told me that he's played once before, and I know the twins have. (When I asked Iggy how he played this, he just laughed very creepily… I backed away slowly.)

Now, Ella and I never have. But we agreed that shooting people with balls of paint that may or may not be slightly painful (even if it was only for a couple seconds) would be very, very fun.

And half an hour later, here we are in the arena. It's basically just a lot of trees with random barricades for cover and a bunker in the middle. So here's the teams: Fang and I, and a few other people we don't know, but about half of them are younger than us. We decided to go against Ella, Iggy, Gazzy, and the people on their team, because god knows we both need revenge on the twins. Ella wanted to stick with Iggy to be his 'eyes'- I know that's bullshit, in part, but Iggy sure as hell didn't mind.

It's a simple team elimination game; the first team with no one left loses. (If it were my choice, I would've gone with every man for himself… well, man or woman. Stupid sexist people.) I was crouched behind a tree with Fang, just after they'd shouted 'game on', signaling the start- we were just waiting for some poor guy… or girl… to come by and get shot at.

Because when you're hiding with Fang, you don't get spotted.

Ever.

It helps that I look like a ninja- dark clothes are best- black hoodie with the hood pulled over my head, in addition to the mask (You know, so my eyeball won't get popped out of my head… Because when you're firing a wad of gelcap-encased paint at another person at hundreds of miles an hour, it can happen) the closest to black jeans I own, and my good old Nikes. And, of course, Fang just_ has_ to get more badassery points than me. Stupid all-black clothing...

"I want to shoot something," I murmured to Fang, getting impatient. "It's what I came here for. Can we move now?"

"Shut up."

"No!"

"Seriously, shut up. Here comes one now." Fang pointed to some short, scrawny ginger guy, who was ducking behind trees and staying in cover.

Smart kid.

"You wanna shoot? Shoot." He lifted his gun, motioning for me to do so.

I raised the scope to my eye, taking aim, just barely poked my arm and the tip of the gun around the edge of the tree, and shot.

I missed. By a little, but I missed.

The kid turned and spotted us, starting to run in our direction. I turned to Fang, eyes widening a fraction of an inch.

"Max?"

"Yes?"

"Run like hell. Now."

"Now?"

"NOW!" he jumped up and grabbed my arm, taking me with him. I regained my balance and ran.

Like hell, as he'd said.

A paintball shot past me and hit a tree, splattering and making an orange mark. I yelped slightly and willed myself to go faster, looking behind me- the kid was gaining on us slightly.

Suddenly, the kid behind us shot again. Fang's hand hit me really hard in the back, and I hit the ground, getting all traces of air knocked out of my lungs. A paintball went straight past where my shoulder had been. I heard several shots from both of their paintball guns while I gasped for air, wondering what the hell just happened. Little black spots started to appear in my vision, and then I felt a hand grab mine and yank me abruptly off the ground and behind a barricade.

"Stupid… gingers…" Fang managed, taking in deep lungfuls of air. I was wheezing and clutching my sides, which hurt like hell.

"What the hell was that for?" I finally asked him when I had enough breath. "You pushed me!"

"No, I shot the other kid and saved your ass. He's out of the game, and you owe me now," he answered.

"Oh? What the hell do I owe you? You were just looking out for our team."

"We'll see about that, but I'm not letting it go. Because I'm just that awesome." He smirked at me- again with that infuriating facial expression…

I snorted. "I thought it was more like _I'm_ that awesome and you couldn't risk being alone against everyone else. But hey. If you wanna think _you're_ the awesome one..." **(Thanks, Sarge!)**

Fang rolled his eyes. "Right, Max. Whatever you say. Let's move out once you catch your breath."

"Nuh-uh. You have to admit that I'm the awesomest first," I said firmly. So what if it isn't a word?

Fang shook his head. "Narcissist."

"Creeper!"

"Egomaniac."

"Emo!"

"Shut it," he muttered.

I smiled smugly. "Gotcha." He rolled his eyes, and I punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Come on. Let's kick some more ass, shall we?" I offered, standing. Fang got to his feet and I swear I saw a grin flit across his face.

"Yeah," Fang said thoughtfully. "Let the asskickery begin."

EllaPOV

"Did you hear that?" I hissed as a twig cracked nearby. Paintball is fun, but it makes me paranoid as hell.

"What haven't I heard?" Iggy muttered under his breath, but I could hear it from how close I was to him. "Come on, Ells, I hear everything."

"Uh-huh," I said dryly.

"All the same, check behind us," he ordered quietly. "You know, I would, but I'm _blind_."

"Then act like it. Iggy, you're friggin' playing _paintball_."

"Touché."

"It looks all clear," I told him, glancing over my shoulder again.

Silence.

"Does it ever… bother you?" I wondered aloud. "You know, not… well-"

"Not seeing anything?" he guessed, finishing my sentence for me. "Yeah. Especially when it comes to people. It sucks."

I felt my cheeks heat up a little. "I didn't mean to be so blunt about it."

"It's fine."

"Do you mind if I-"

"Ask a couple questions?"

I stared at him. "What am I thinking about right now?"

"Tacos?"

"Okay, so you're not a mind reader," I muttered.

"Nope," he said lightly. "Go ahead."

"Does someone… describe things for you?" I felt even more awkward asking that, and it only worsened in the silence that followed.

"Sometimes," he said finally. "Mostly Angel. Gaz kinda sucks at it."

"Oh. Does she… does she do people, too?"

He merely shrugged. "Occasionally."

We continued walking for a few seconds in silence, but then he looked up at me.

"I bet you're beautiful."

"I KNEW IT!" I shrieked suddenly.

"Jesus, Ells, keep it down!" he hissed. "And I think the proper response is 'thank you'?"

I felt my face turn crimson with embarrassment. "No, I didn't mean that I knew I was… wait a second, did you just-?"

A light tinge of red colored his face as well. "Later, Ella. Go on."

"Anyway…" I continued slowly. "I meant that I knew there wasn't just the you that we all know and love. You know, the you that doesn't care about anything and everything and makes a joke out of all of it."

"That you all know and _love_, huh?"

"That's what I'm talking about! You didn't even take _that_ seriously!" I accused. "But when you say something like that, call m- uh, something- beautiful, I know for sure that you're not just all sarcasm and nonchalance."

"Are you saying I'm shallow?" he said dryly.

"Rather the opposite," I denied. "I've been thinking that catch glimpses of it when you're around Angel occasionally and no one's looking, and when you stood up for me. And, uh, Nudge. But I was never sure."

"You never cease to amaze me," I heard him say under his breath.

The part that worried me was that I didn't even know if it was sarcastic or not.

"How sweet," said a sarcastic voice from behind us. Iggy and I whirled around.

… And a paintball hit Iggy right in the stomach.

He winced as his hand flew to the yellow splatter. "REVENGE!" Max bellowed, jumping out from behind a tree, Fang close behind, his mouth twisted into a devious smirk. Max fired again, this time catching Iggy's shoulder. "TAKE-" she shot again- "THAT-" and again- "YOU STUPID-" this one caught him on the forearm- "PYRO!" The last shot she fired hit him square in the chest.

"Max…" Iggy wheezed. "Quit… shooting me…"

And then, I realized that neither of them had gotten me yet. I could still shoot. The only problem?

I have terrible aim.

And still, I fired… repeatedly. In random directions. Until I ran out of paintballs.

And that was when it got quiet. Reeally quiet.

"You hit me," Fang said, genuinely surprised and staring down at his now paint-splattered hoodie.

"And me," Max added. "Several times."

"I shot myself," I admitted sheepishly. "Not even sure how the hell that happened."

"You even got your own teammate," Iggy muttered, covered in paint.

"Bitch, please," snorted Gazzy. "If these were real bullets, I'd look like Swiss cheese. Holy crap, that rhymed!"

"Gazzy! When did you get here?" I turned to face him. He was standing not far behind Fang.

"Right before you teamkilled me," he said dryly. "In fact, I was just coming along to warn you and Iggy that Max and Fang got a crapload of people on our team out-"

"Yes. Yes we did. In fact, we were the only ones left on our team," Max mused, interrupting him. "Anyone else on yours?"

"Because if there is, we win," noted Iggy, grinning like a maniac. "Oh, man, if we beat you-"

"Get to the point!" Max snapped. Jealous? Oh, yes. If we beat her- I mean her team- I will forever gloat about this. To her face. Because she can't castrate me like she can Iggy and Gazzy.

"I don't think we do- hell, we'd better not l-"

"I blame Fang," I interrupted immediately.

Fang glared at me, and I only smiled sweetly. Death glares have no effect on me, remember? "Why me?"

"Because when everything goes wrong, we're supposed to blame you," Iggy interjected.

"Who the hell told you _that_?"

"Max did," I answered innocently.

Fang raised a questioning eyebrow at her, and she raised her hands in defense. "It might just have slipped out…"

"But Ella's the one who shot everyone!"

"It's okay, all we're going to do is hold a grudge against you eternally if we lose," said Max cheerfully, clapping him on the back.

Fang glared at her. "I swear to god, Max-"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Gazzy yelled. "Jesus, I've been trying to get a word in for the last three minutes!" Then is face split into a wide grin. "Come on out, Austin."

I stared as a kid who looked about nine years old stepped out from behind a stack of tires. "Uh… hi," he said, looking down and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"You're kidding me!" Max shrieked. "You hid him?"

"The entire game," Gazzy said triumphantly. "He came here with his older brother and sister, and they ditched him first thing. I told him to hide behind the tires just north of here-" he pointed in their general direction- "no matter what happened, and guess what, Max?"

"No. Oh, god no," Fang groaned.

"WE. WIN."

MaxPOV

"Make them shut up," I whined to Dr M, who was sitting across the table form Fang and I. She just smiled, shook her head, and went back to her paperwork.

"WE DID IT! WE WO-ON! WE'RE AWESOME! YOU'RE NO-OT!" Iggy, Ella, and Gazzy sang in unison from the living room. They'd been gloating very, very loudly over their victory for the last couple hours, running around and declaring it to the world.

It was mostly the fact that I'd been on the team that was beaten. Not to sound full of myself or anything. I fact, I hadn't even done most of the shooting, besides getting Iggy and Ella. Fang did a lot of it. And the other several people on our team… whom I do not know…

A muscle twitched near my eye. "Fang, get me the chainsaw."

"We don't have a chainsaw," he said calmly, taking a sip of his drink and turning the page on his book.

"But I want one!"

He gave me a small half-smile. "Tell you what; I'll get you one for Christmas."

"And then we can murder them?" I asked hopefully.

"And then we can murder them," Fang agreed. "We'll have to get them alone somehow. Oh, and don't forget that we need a place to hide the bodies." My God, Fang would make an excellent mass murderer.

"No plotting deaths," Dr M chided absentmindedly, adjusting her reading glasses and not looking up. "Or chainsaws for Christmas."

"We'll see about that," I muttered under my breath.

"It's not that far away, you know," Nudge mused, suddenly speaking. I was surprised that she hadn't been babbling the whole time. "It's only, what, a month and a half away?"

"We still have Thanksgiving and all of December to go through, though," Dr M reminded us.

Angel peered around the corner. "Turkey is stupid. We should have Mexican food."

"A strange Thanksgiving for an even stranger family."

"We're not that strange!" I protested. Fang just looked at me flatly. "Okay, okay, I see your point. We're a family of juvenile delinquents."

Nudge frowned. "Dr M, why did you take us in, anyway? There are lots of nicer kids out there. You know, ones with no bad record and all that. Good kids."

Dr M sighed and set her papers to the side, pushing a strand of hair that had escaped from her now-messy bun behind her ear. "That's just it. Those kids have a better chance of getting adopted than you ever did, to be honest. If anyone needed another chance, it was you."

"But why _you_?" I questioned. "Why us? What made you do it?"

"I try to see the good in people," she said softly. "I know most of what you guys have been though, and I see it in all of you."

Fang looked up. "The _good_ in us?" he said skeptically.

Dr M smiled wearily. "Especially you." Fang didn't respond, only holding her gaze for a second and the looking back at his book. "Everyone deserves a second chance. I believe in that."

"More like the hundredth chance for me," I snorted. Hey, it's true.

"Maybe, maybe," she admitted. "All the more reason for me to take you in. I'm glad I did, no matter how reluctant to adjust you all may have been at the start- I consider you family now, blood-related or no."

Angel spoke again. "I like it better here than anywhere else," she said quietly. "I don't miss my parents. You guys are my family now."

"I miss my parents," Nudge said, staring down at the table. Then she looked up again. "But it's okay, you know," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, it's not _really_ okay, and I miss them, but Angel's right. We're family now. Remember when we got here, how bad we were?" She gestured around the table. "But now I've got Ella, and Gazzy, Angel, and Iggy have each other, like they always have, and Iggy and Ella hang out a lot too." She smiled mischievously. "A lot. And Max, Fang? You guys have each other now. You're, like, besties."

"Do not _ever_ call us 'besties' again," Fang and I growled at the same time. A glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, seeing him do the same. Seriously, _besties_? I mean, best friends… sure. Why not. But _besties?_ The term makes me shudder.

"Don't deny it. You're totally besties. And besides, remember how much you guys hated everyone when you got here? Now look at you. I saw Fang smile earlier. That is a phenomenon, ladies and gentlemen," Ella declared, walking in. I could still hear Iggy and Gazzy cracking up in the living room.

"Still celebrating?" I asked sarcastically, wanting to change the subject.

"Yeah, they are. But I'm done with that… for now." Ella smirked at me. "You guys are never gonna hear the end of this." Oh, my God, it's a damn _paintball game. _It's not that big of a _freaking deal._

"Do we have to wait until Christmas?" I muttered under my breath to Fang.

"Max! I heard that!"

"Sorry, Dr M," I lied, grinning impishly. Ella smirked at me again from across the table, more infuriating than ever.

We're getting a freaking chainsaw. _It's gonna happen._

**Me: Now that I can speak English, what I was going to say earlier is 'Special thanks to the amazing, wonderful, smart, funny, incredibly creative, awesomesaucely bacontastical Sgt. Socks, without whom this chapter would not exist.'**

**Fang: Yeah. That right there.**

**Me: Now, a LOT of you have been saying that they need to go to normal school, but please stop saying that- the only thing I'm gonna tell you is that it will all be taken care of soon :3**

**Fang: It will all be... TAKEN CARE OF... like your families... with a flamethrower...**

**Me: Reversal of our roles much?**

**-Sierra**


	20. Mexican Food

**Hey. All of you, go check out Iceytaste- SERIOUSLY. This chick has talent! She's amazing.**

**Fang: She writes Fax…**

**Me: Extremely Faxilicious Fax…You know you want itttt…**

**Fang: That's what she said.**

**Me: -headdesk- That doesn't even make sense!**

**Fang: Neither does half the shit you said when you were working with your friend on that history project! It was 'your mom' every five seconds…**

**Me: Your MOM doesn't even make sense. Ahaha. Okay, I'll stop for his sanity. And because my sister walked in and asked what I was doing. Guess what my response was? Yeah.**

MaxPoV

I smelled the air again, enjoying the delicious (and stomach-growl-inducing) scents coming form the kitchen. Iggy and Dr M were cooking; Mexican food, to be exact.

Guess what day it is.

Yeah, we went with Angel's idea.

Speaking of stomachs growling, mine did, and a voice behind me whispered, "Hungry, Max?"

I scowled and turned to punch Fang's shoulder. "Starving. Now quit doing that."

He cocked one eyebrow. "That's all I get? No shriek of surprise? Not even a jump? I'm losing my touch."

I grinned. "I've gotten used to you." I remember it was only two weeks ago when I accused him of giving me a heart attack… "No more ninja tricks on me."

"We'll see," he said absentmindedly, flopping lengthwise back onto the couch and closing his eyes.

"Tired?"

"Mmph."

"You do that. I'm gonna go steal some food." Maximum Ride needs some freaking food, _now._

His mouth turned up at one corner. "Have fun."

I peered around the corner and into the kitchen. Dr M had just disappeared out the back door, possibly to feed Total; Iggy was standing at the stove with a wooden spoon in hand. Mission Insanely Easy? Yeah.

But then again, I'd forgotten about Iggy's damn hearing skills.

Eyeing a bowl of delicious-looking (and smelling) chicken on the countertop, I crept as stealthily as possible towards it. Suddenly, the linoleum creaked under my foot, and I froze- but Iggy had chosen that moment to turn away from the food and sneeze into his elbow. _Close one, Max, close one, _I thought to myself.

I grabbed the bowl and tiptoed towards the doorway, and right before I was about to escape, Iggy turned to face me, pointing the wooden spoon at the wall in what was probably an attempt to threaten me. Poor guy was way off… "Put the chicken down, Max."

I frowned. "How did you know it was me? And the chicken?" I didn't do as he said- I mean, come on. When do I ever do anything anyone says? Plus, I'm hungry. And when I get hungry, I get mad, and people get hurt.

"Because you and Gazzy are the only ones who would dare mess with my kitchen, and he's downstairs yelling at his pixilated enemies to die. Repeatedly. And, come on. I have to know where everything I'm cooking with is, no? Put the chicken down."

"But I'm hungry," I muttered, starting to edge out the doorway.

Iggy set down his spoon and grabbed a knife off the island. "I need that for the fajitas. Put the freaking chicken down, or I swear to God, _I will use this_."

Slightly alarmed (I mean… when a blind guy threatens you with a knife… He can't even be accurate! It'd just be 'stab stab stab stab' all over the place!), I set down the bowl. "Jeez, you're protective of your food. But when you put it that way..."

Ella walked in and hoisted herself up onto the bit of empty counter space there was left. "Smells good, Igs."

"Thanks. Out of the kitchen, Max," he ordered, turning back to the stove and stirring whatever was in the pan.

"But Ella gets to be here!" I protested.

"Yeah, well, Ella's Ella, and she won't steal my food. Shoo."

Ella laughed, and I stormed out of the kitchen, dropping onto the armrest with a thud. God, Fang just can't leave me any room, can he? Fatty!

"You can be quite the drama queen, you know," he observed, eyes still closed.

"You're really fat, you know that?" I fumed at him.

He opened one eye and looked at me. "What?"

"You're just really _fat_. Look in a mirror."

"Jesus, you're grumpy when you're hungry. Deep breaths. In, out, in, out…"

My stomach growled again. "Shut up," I snapped at him.

"Temper, temper." His smirk made me see red. I aimed a kick at him, failing and nearly falling off the couch. Because I'm just _that_ coordinated.

"Calm down. You can eat that nice… delicious… juicy-" I glared at him, and he shot me a look, rolling his eyes. "-food in a few minutes," he finished.

"Quit making me think about it, and go steal some for me. Nobody will notice you."

"Nah," he said nonchalantly, sitting up and stretching.

I gave him my best burn-a-freaking-hole-in-the-back-of-Fang's-head glare. "You're a heartless monster."

"Oh, I know. It must be so hard, having a heartless monster for a bestie…"

"Bestie? I thought you hated that!"

Fang shook his head. "I do, but I figured it annoys you more than it does me. Which I just proved true," he explained.

I sighed resignedly. "I hate you."

"You don't mean that." He was smiling that rare half-smile, the one I hated because I'm supposed to be mad at him but he won't let me freaking_ stay that way!_

"I know," I muttered.

"YO! Dinner in five! Get to the table!" Iggy called from the kitchen.

I nearly knocked Fang off the couch when I jumped up and rushed to the table. Fang pulled out his chair and sat beside me. "Did you even eat today?" he inquired, eyebrow rising.

"Uh… I had an early lunch?" My voice rose into a question at the end. "Don't know, don't care."

"See, Max, all you had to do was wait ten minutes," Iggy commented, setting down a bowl of salsa. "It's not that hard." I scowled at him- which, of course, he didn't see. Is it just me, or am I doing a lot of scowling today?

At last, everyone was seated, Dr M the last one to get to the table. I watched her smile to herself and shake her head at Gazzy when he burped out "Pass-the-salsaaaa," Angel laughing at him and Nudge passing the bowl to him with a disgusted expression on her face; catching Ella's wrist when she was about to throw a tortilla chip at Iggy and warning the two of them not to start a food fight. It kinda reminded me of Mom...

I shook my head, clearing it, and Dr M looked around. "I know it's probably pointless to ask anyone but Ella… but would anyone like to say something? That they're thankful for?" Guess I'm out of that aspect of tonight…

Angel surprised us- well, at least _I_ hadn't expected it- by speaking, looking a little shy. "I'm thankful for Total, and not having to sleep outside, and 'cause I have a new family."

Ella looked around, a little uneasy, and spoke up after a moment of silence. "For a new family and new friends." I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it. This is one thing I am_ not_ getting guilted into...

Iggy looked up. "I'm thankful for, uh, these bombs?"

"And, uh, paintball. 'Cause that was awesome!" Gazzy interjected.

Nudge was next, fidgeting slightly with her shirt. "My turn? Well, I… I guess when it comes down to it, I'm just thankful to be surrounded by people who actually care where I end up in five, ten years."

Fang was after Nudge, and I could see that he was pretty uncomfortable under his smooth mask. "I… uh… ditto," he finished reluctantly. Nice.

…Which left me. Aw, crap.

I looked down, unsure of what to say, or if to say anything at all. But hey… I don't have to say anything truly meaningful. Or mushy, or cheesy. "A safe place to sleep at night," I mumbled. And as much as I _hated_ admitting it, I was thankful for these crazy people around me too. Because somehow, they've made this screwed up world we're all living with a little better.

Oh jeez. I need to stop it before I get cheesy.

"I'm so proud of how you've all improved; I'm thankful that you're all here," Dr M finished with a smile. "Instead of, say, in a holding cell. I love getting to know all of you, seeing the variety of differences in people."

"That too. Let's eat!" Nudge said enthusiastically. And finally, I took a bite of my burrito- Jesus, Iggy and Dr M are good cooks.

"Oh, man. This is frikkin' delicious, Dr M," Gazzy approved, swallowing a bite of his food. I share _that_ sentiment…

Dr M smiled. "Thanks. My mother taught my sister and I how to make most of this when we were younger," she explained, gesturing at the food on the table. "But it probably wouldn't be so good if Iggy hadn't helped."

"I do take pride in my awesome cooking skills," Iggy said thoughtfully, flashing us a grin.

Ella rolled her eyes. "The correct response is 'thank you', idiot."

"Yeah, and I bet you'd know _all about that,_ wouldn't ya, Ells?" Iggy nudged her in the ribs with his elbow, and elbowed right back, nearly making him fall out of his chair. Okay, I don't know what they're talking about, and I'm not sure I want to.

"Who taught you how to cook?" Nudge asked, passing the cheese to Angel. "I want to thank them. And give them a lifetime supply of bacon. Heck, how did you learn not to burn yourself?"

"Trial and error," Gazzy spoke up. "His hands were bandaged for days."

"I taught myself," Iggy answered, still with that one-sided grin. "Mom and Dad barely fed us. Gotta eat to live."

"Or you could starve," I offered. "Yeah, I like that. No more Iggy."

"Please. You know you all want me around," he said, waving his hand in dismissal. "I make the world a sexier place."

"Sexy? Iggy, you are the _farthest_ thing from sexy I have ever seen."

"Contrary to popular belief."

Ella smacked him upside the head, telling him to shut up, and Iggy winced, rubbing the back of his head. "She's remarkably violent," Fang observed, and I nodded. " But she still can't beat you in that area." He gave me that oh-so-aggravating smirk of his, and I raised my fist, silently asking if he would like to be punched.

"Aaand it's one of your redeeming qualities," he improvised quickly.

I flashed him a sickly sweet smile. "Good boy."

"Hey, Fang. Play dead," Gazzy joked. "If I throw a stick, will you go and get it?"

He scowled. "I'm not a dog."

"Says you, _Fido._"

* * *

><p>ThirdPersonPOV<p>

Nudge and Ella, all warm and snug in Ella's room, were relieved that their Thanksgiving meal stuffing had finally passed. It was about time, because not eating for two whole days isn't healthy. Not that health is really their main concern. But either way, they were glad to be able to eat again.

Nudge popped an M&M into her mouth and grinned at Ella, propping herself up on her elbows. "So… Iggy."

Ella rolled her eyes, crossing her legs behind her. "Don't start this again."

"But it's so easy to see!"

"See what?" Ella demanded. Nudge just shot her a you-know-perfectly-well-what-I'm-talking-about look, and Ella sighed. "Nudge… seriously…"

The dark-skinned girl folded her arms across her chest. "It's perfectly clear. You totally like him!"

"Nudge, I don't like him, and I've told you that!" Ella insisted. "And besides, aren't we sort of related? That'd be wrong."

"No, no," Nudge disagreed, waving her hand in dismissal. "He's only your foster brother. And you'd be so cute together!"

"He's my friend, and nothing more than that!"

"You're lyingggg," Nudge sang. "ELLA HAS A CRUSH ON IG-"

Ella lunged for her and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Nudge! _Shut __up_!"

"Mmmpphh!" Nudge protested from under her hand.

"If you lick me, I swear to God-" Ella started dangerously. Nudge ripped her hand off her mouth and scrambled up and away from the other girl, laughing.

"HEY EVERYBODY! EL-" She was cut off as Ella shrieked and ran after her again.

Down the hall, Iggy and The Gasman looked up, hunched over a mess of wires. "What the hell is Nudge doing?" Iggy wondered aloud, tilting his head to the side. "It sounds like…"

"I heard 'Ella' and 'crush'," Gazzy told him. "Wanna check it out?"

His brother grinned. "If by check it out, you mean go listen in outside their door, I'm in."

"You read my mind." The boys stood, Iggy shoving the contraband explosive into the mess under his bed.

"So, hide in Max's bathroom or in the hall? We have a bigger chance of getting caught if we hide out there."

"In the hall," Iggy said immediately. He remembered the last time he'd tried to eavesdrop in Max's bathroom, and that ended up with him trapped in a shower made for one person with Ella. And there was _no__way_he was doing that with The Gasman; small space+ Gazzy= Iggy choking to death.

"Are you sure-?"

"Absolutely. Let's go."

A minute later, after avoiding Angels' questions about what they were doing, Iggy and Gazzy's ears were pressed up against Ella's door.

They heard Nudge giggle. "You know you do."

"I don't!" Ella protested.

"Ella, one of the biggest lies ever told by a girl is 'I don't like him'," Nudge laughed. "Watching you deny it is funny. C'mon, at least admit you think he's cute!" Gazzy's eyebrows shot up at the same time Iggy's drew together. The blind boy felt a sick feeling rise in his stomach… jealousy? Who were they talking about?

"My god, Nudge, you're not going to give up, are you?"

"Never. Not until you admit it."

"If I admit it, will you leave me the hell alone about it and quit screaming it to the world?" Ella demanded.

Nudge laughed again. "Sure. Now, come on. Sayyyy iitttt."

"Okay. Fine. I like him. Happy now? You can never, _ever_ speak of this again," Ella hissed.

"Iggy, man, you look like a statue. Move. Or blink. Or something," Gazzy murmured.

His brother blinked and turned his head. "Huh? Oh. Sorry. Didn't notice."

"You're talking like Fang… wait a second, you're _jealous,_" Gazzy said, realization dawning on his face. "Oh my god, you're _jealous._" He smirked, even though his twin couldn't see it.

"Why the hell would I be jealous?" Iggy demanded, irritated. "Ella has friends outside of here. If she likes someone, I don't care."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying!"

Gazzy shook his head. "Ig, I've been living with you and listening to you lie to adults and otherwise since we were freaking _born_. I know when you're lying."

"Let's just go," Iggy muttered standing up. But before they left, they heard one last thing from Nudge…

"I knew you liked Iggy. I knew it!" she nearly squealed.

They both froze on the spot, a slow smile spreading across Gazzy's face. "Did you hear-?"

"Oh, man, I heard," Iggy said in that 'holy shit' tone of voice. "She just…"

Gazzy, still with that same slightly maniacal grin, confirmed, "She did. I never thought I'd see the day a girl would actually like my brother!"

Iggy smacked his brother in the stomach, hard. "Yeah, yeah. But… Ella?" he mused, shaking his head. "I don't think…"

"Psh. Dude, everyone can see it. Can't you?"

"Yeah, because it's not like I'm _blind_ or anything," Iggy said dryly.

"That was meant to offend you," Gazzy assured him. "But come on. You like her, she likes you… she obviously doesn't have a boyfriend, so make your move!"

"But it's not right," Iggy argued, heading back to their room. "I mean, isn't she my sister? Dr Martinez'd have my head."

"You're not related by blood. Just think of it as… a girl you happen to be living in the same house with," Gazzy suggested. "No harm, no foul."

"Yeah, but there's harm when her mother chops off my head with a blunt axe! And that takes more than one swing!"

"So you _do_ admit it."

"How did you deduce that I like Ella from a sentence about Dr M going axe murderer?"

"I didn't. I tricked you into saying it just now," Gazzy said smugly, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

Iggy tried to punch him but missed, scowling. "Dammit, Gazzy!"

"You'll love me for it eventually," he laughed, dodging another first. "Now go make out with her before she runs off with someone el-"

"Who's making out with who?" Max questioned, coming up he stairs with a glass of water in hand. "This should be interesting. As far as I know, you don't know any girls besides- oh." Max raised an eyebrow. "It's not- it's not Nudge, is it? I know it's not me, because that'd just be…"

"No! Nobody's making out with anybody!" Iggy protested. "Gazzy was just being an-"

"Incredibly awesome person," he interrupted, "but that's beside the point. It's not Nudge, it's E-"

"GAZZY!"

"Oh, I see. Ella. I thought it was about time that you admitted that," Max said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "Oh, man. One word: blackmail."

Iggy whirled on his brother. "You. Are. An. _Idiot_."

Gazzy raised his hands in defense. "Sorry! Okay, I don't mean that, but it's not in my hands now. Your problem, man."

"Max, not _one word_. To anyone, especially Ella," Iggy ordered. "I swear, if you-"

"Beg," Max interrupted calmly. "Beg me. Maybe then I'll consider it. Because honestly, you've done so much shit to me that I just don't know about this."

"Please!"

"Please what?"

"Please, Max, do not say a single thing about this to Ella."

"It still needs something..."

"Pretty please with bacon on top?"

"That'll do," Max decided. "But don't mess up, or it might just slip out of my mouth. So play nice." She walked into her room, shutting the door behind her. "Night, Iggy."

The blind boy ran a hand through his hair, sighing. Sleep? He wasn't gonna get it, knowing that Max was holding this over his head. _I believe this is where the phrase "Karma, bitch!" comes in,_ he thought. And something that had been at the back of his mind since Max threatened him abruptly popped up: Nudge had said that Ella liked him.

And Ella hadn't even denied it.

**Me: Yeah, sorry for the four-week wait. I've had a LOT of freaking homework lately. Special thanks to Sgt. Socks for keeping the cheesiness out of this chapter, her Iggy, for letting me quote him in a chapter coming soon, and **Erin319 for keeping me from losing the fragments of sanity I have left.****

**Fang: But Iggy's still gay.**

**Me: Definitely.**

**-Sierra**

**OH. I forgot. I made a Facebook page for my FF! Not an actual account, because that could be creepy; just a page that you Like. Just a quicker way to say if I've updated, if I'm gonna update soon, maybe ask questions about what you think's gonna happen after a cliffie (because there _will be_ _cliffies_) and ask you what you think should happen. It's pretty stupid, but I was bored.**

**Insanely so.**

**-For real this time, Sierra**


	21. Really Bad Tempers

**Screw the police! I don't care whether this sucks or not anymore! I'm freaking posting it! And I really shouldn't keep talking, because I desperately need sleep right now but I have to put this freaking A/N in and blah blah blah Fang, make me shut up. **

**Fang: -covers my mouth with his hand- Earlier, before she was being Nudgey, she planned to say something about happy Thanksgiving and she's so lame because she didn't post this for six weeks. Oh, and also that I'm awesome and sexy and that I totally didn't just add that stuff in there.**

EllaPOV

"Hey Mom, do you think we're gonna make it to Colorado for Christmas this year?" I asked, stuffing textbooks into my backpack and slinging it over my shoulder.

My mom looked up from the coffeepot. "Yes, of course we are. Your Aunt Tania and Uncle Chris have been wanting to meet everyone else."

Max seemed to stiffen a little. "Colorado?" she repeated. Mom nodded, and suddenly, Max seemed very, very interested in her Frosted Flakes.

Nudge's mouth opened as if she was going to speak, but then she closed it. "We're not… we're not taking a plane, are we?" Something about the tone of her voice made me glance at her. Nudge's eyes were wide, and for a second she looked terrified.

Mom gave her a strange look. "Why would we? It's only about a five-hour drive from here. It's not so long that we have to buy plane tickets." The drive had always been okay with me and Mom, but with eight people? Oh, boy.

"Great, five hours stuck in a car with you nutcases," Iggy said, cringing and pointing his fork at Max. She didn't even look up, too busy trying to bore a hole into the table with her imaginary laser vision. Ah, well. I was used to Max acting pretty strange.

"Nudge?" She was still frozen in place. "Nudge?" I repeated. "Are you okay?"

She snapped out of it almost immediately. "I… yeah. I just have to… um… go brush my teeth," she mumbled. She slipped out of the room, unnoticed by anyone but Mom and I; and the fact that she was speaking in less than twenty-five-word sentences alerted me to a strange difference in her mood. Mom shot me a don't-ask-about-it-it's-not-your-business-kind of look- the one she always gave me when the other kids were acting strange- and I nodded quickly, silently promising I wouldn't. Which was, of course, a total lie.

Sure, curiosity killed the cat. But the thing about that old saying?

I'm not a cat.

There came a knock on the front door, and Angel got up from the table to go let Brigid in. "Good morning!" the blond woman said brightly. Max scowled, and under the table, I saw Fang squeeze her hand and quickly let go before getting up and washing his dish.

Aw, those guys are so cute. Makes me wonder how long it'll be before they couple up.

"Ella and I are taking off. Be _good_," Mom emphasized. As if. She said that every day, and eighty percent of the time, it didn't happen. Natural troublemakers, these guys.

I have a feeling they're rubbing off on me.

Before I stepped out the door into the cool and crisp December morning air, I glanced up at where Nudge had disappeared up the stairs. I was worried about my talkative friend- well, actually, not-so-talkative this morning.

Which was reason enough for me to be curious.

MaxPOV

I rested my head in my hands, rubbing my eyes with my palms. I'd felt a headache coming on this morning, but I hadn't expected it to be this bad. Or exhausting. Or to last all through lunch. What sucked even more was that I couldn't find any aspirin. And combined with the chaos in my mind this morning, my day was just _sucking_ so far. (I'll explain later. Patience is a virtue and all that mumbo jumbo.)

"Max? Max!"

Brigid's annoying voice broke into my thoughts. "I've been asking you to solve number twenty-five for the last five minutes," she said impatiently, indicating to a problem in my textbook. I frowned. Five minutes? She was exaggerating. I tried to focus on the tiny numbers, blinking a couple times to clear my vision, and Brigid tapped her foot. "Well?"

See why I have a problem with this chick?

I stared down at the problem. Right now, I was not going to be able to figure out whatever the hell "_b_ cubed minus _a_ if _a_ equals five squared and _b_ equals seven" was. An aspirin would just be awesome about now…

I looked to Fang for help. On the binder in his lap, he was tracing a number with his fingers, but I couldn't make out what it was. "Uh… twenty-four?" I offered. Even without the headache, I never was good at this algebra stuff.

"Wrong answer," Brigid said, giving me a disdainful look. Yeah, because she's Ms. Amazing. "It wasn't that hard of a problem. Iggy, can you answer for Max?"

"Nope," he said in that someone-get-me-outta-here-I'm-so-bored tone of voice. His head was flat on his book. "Don't feel like it."

"You realize this will bring down your grade, right?" she asked as if she thought it actually mattered to him.

Iggy seemed to be resisting the urge to crack up. "Yeah, and I care."

Brigid's nostrils flared in her special I-hate-you move; the Nostril Flare of Total Rejection. Goes well with The Cold Shoulder, the Frenzied Eyebrow, the Grimace of Doom, the Sneer of Despair, the Crippling Wince of Guilt, or the Scowl of Impending Wrath. She turned to her 'star student', Fang- are you kidding me? There are only six students! And she annoys him almost as much as she annoys me. But, hey. "Favorites" is her favorite game to play.

Mine's "Messing With Brigid", but I digress.

"Fang, can you tell me the answer?" she asked him in that stupid cotton-candy voice. My gender disappoints me sometimes.

He looked up and stopped doodling for a second. "Seventy-three." Well, I was way off.

Brigid smiled brightly. "That's right! Good job!"

All I wanted to do right now was get away from Brigid, go downstairs, curl up in the giant La-Z-Boy, and sleep for a while. I mean, I don't even go to regular school and I still have that _Oh god, I'm so tired, I just want to go to sleep _mentality during school.

And plus, I was trying _really_ hard to not think about the time I lived in Colorado. No, your eyes do not deceive you. I did. Since I was a kid, up until I got shipped out to my first foster home in New Mexico.

But don't get me wrong; there were good and bad memories. The good ones were mostly of Mom, fuzzy fragments- her warm smile, her blond hair just like mine, the nights when she came into me and Ari's room and read a book to us. Some were of Ari, and some of Jeb before he- well, before he got all wacko in the head.

And then there were the creepy-flashback-inducing ones that chilled me to the bone.

The night of the crash, holding tight to Ari and trying not to be overwhelmed by the bright, glaring hospital lights and all the voices around me- I could still remember the doctor who told me that Mom didn't make it. I remembered packing up the cardboard boxes the night after Ari ran away; Jeb made us move just in case Ari ran to the cops.

And many, many more memories of Jeb I was _no_t going to allow to surface.

Then I felt something nudging my leg under the table- Fang's foot. I looked up, my train of thought thoroughly crashed. When Brigid's back was turned, he leaned over to me and whispered, "You okay? You seem kinda spaced out."

I shrugged. "Just internally going nuts," I muttered back. "Tell you later."

Fang looked slightly amused. "Stay sane for me, all right?" he murmured.

"No promises."

"Max, quit talking," Brigid ordered and Fang and I quickly sat back up in our seats. "I'm sick of you acting like this. Maybe if you'd actually listen once in a while-"

"Oh, will you just quit _bitching_ at me?" I broke in snappishly. My head was aching worse than ever, and Brigid was always nagging at me. And you know what? I did listen a _lot_ more than once in a while. My grades weren't too bad (which surprised me, because Brigid hates my guts.) "I just don't like you, and your voice is giving me a freaking migraine. Just. Shut. _Up._"

There was silence for a bit. I'd meant to stop cussing in front of Angel, I really had, but I couldn't think of a better word at the time. Which is just sad, but oh well.

Iggy broke the silence. "You just got _burned_."

* * *

><p>The moment Dr. M walked in the door, I knew she was going to give me hell for today.<p>

But she didn't know anything I'd done yet- Brigid hadn't had a chance to talk to her- so if I ran now, I might be able to escape Dr M's Scowl of Impending Wrath.

I started to edge towards the back door. "I'm going to go… uh… feed Total," I improvised. "And you-" I grabbed Fang by the arm and dragged him along with me- "are coming with me, meat shield."

Right before I escaped out the door, Fang's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait. What do you mean by meat shie-" I didn't give him time to finish, and shut the door behind us just as Brigid started speaking to Dr M in the kitchen.

"I mean," I began as Total trotted up to us, "that if she gives me the Look, I'm going to hide behind you and you are going to get the full impact of it. Better start writing your will, boy. Dibs on your iPod." Mine was pretty beaten up.

"Hell no. You got yourself into this mess- I'm not going to hide you," Fang objected as I opened the bag of dog food.

My shoulders rose and fell. "Sure you aren't. Hey, watch this- Total's looking at me like, 'Food. Food. Food.' " I poured some into his bowl and picked it up, the cold metal chilling my hand. The little black Scottie was circling around my legs, tail wagging. "And when I almost give it to him, he's like "Have it? Have it? Have it?" Total stood up on his hind legs for a second, and I set the bowl down on the ground. He instantly attacked it.

"Mhm. No matter how many times you change the subject, I'm still not gonna be your meat shield."

I shrugged again and crouched down next to Total, scratching him behind the ears as he ate. "It was worth a try."

"Not really. How's your head?"

I made a face. "Little better since I stole some food from the fridge. But not much, really. Before Dr M murders me I'm going to have to ask her for some Advil or something."

"I'll bring some to your funeral."

"I'm sure you would," I said dryly.

"Hey, you still owe me an explanation for- what was it you said?- something about internally going nuts," he said, out of the blue. Well, now look who's changing the subject…

I sighed. No point in not telling him, anyway. "You know how Dr M said we were going up to Colorado?" Fang nodded in assent. " Yeah, well, I used to live there," I said wryly. "Up in Aspen. Before Jeb- uh, before I got put in foster care."

Fang seemed to think it over. "I see."

"Said the blind man," I commented.

"Don't let Iggy catch you saying that."

"Whatever. But… I mean, it brings back memories. Not all bad ones, but they're there, you know?" I said, shivering a little. It was the cold. Totally the cold.

And then Fang was crouching next to me, lightly squeezing my hand and then dropping it. "Yeah, I know."

I looked down. "Ever since Mom got in that crash, things just got worse and worse, even after Jeb went to prison. I sometimes feel like things are gonna be like that again… and I couldn't do that. I don't know how much more I can take losing."

And I'm damn sure that that was the most touchy-feely, heart-on-my-sleeve thing I'd ever said.

I seriously need to shut up.

When I looked up, Fang was studying me with those intense, dark eyes. "I'll be here, come hell and high water. But I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you- because life's screwed us over so many times. Maybe by now… maybe by now it's done."

And then... get this:

He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.

I was surprised because I didn't go absolutely nuts over it. My mind wasn't going at one hundred miles a minute. It felt... it felt like I just wasn't scared to be touched. What's the word I'm looking for? Secure. Safe. I met his eyes and offered him a small smile in return.

Silence fell, and I was extremely aware of how close Fang and I were. In fact, I was hyperaware of everything around me. Fang's hand still lingered near mine unintentionally, just because of the way his arm hung by his side.

Our proximity made me shiver. It wasn't the cold. Totally not the cold. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that. In fact, I didn't _want_ to think about how I felt.

So I stood and brushed off my hands on my pants, choosing to ignore the buzzing voices in the back of my mind. "Come on, meat shield," I told him. "We're going inside."

Warily, Fang followed me to the back door. Through the window, I could see Dr M and Brigid still conversing, and neither of them looked happy. Especially not Dr M.

Oops?

As I cracked open the door as quietly as ninja-ly possible, I shoved Fang in front of me and put my hands on either one of his shoulders to make sure he stayed there. I crouched a little just for extra protection, even though he was about six inches taller than I was. (Which irked me greatly.)

With him in front of me, we shuffled through the doorway unnoticed. I heard Brigid arguing with Dr M, saying, "You know I have great respect for you, Valencia, but she has none for me! I can't deal with her anymore."

Dr M frowned. "Please, stay. You won't have to deal with Max much longer."

Well, _that_ sparked my interest.

I stood on my toes and looked over Fang's shoulder. "What do you mean, she won't have to deal with me much longer? Is she quitting?" I almost smiled at the prospect. The possibility that I and not Brigid would be leaving didn't even cross my mind at the time. But then again, it was only a possibility.

They both jumped. "Max, you startled me!" Dr M exclaimed. I quickly ducked behind Fang again, waiting for her glare to incinerate him and then me. "Ah… why are you hiding behind Fang?"

" 'Cause you're gonna kill me," I said, the sound muffled by Fang's black jacket.

"Why on earth would I- oh, that. Yes, I'll speak to you about that later." Her voice contained a steely edge. "But for now, I assure you that you'll live."

That 'for now' was just so reassuring.

Nevertheless, I raised my head again. Fang was still standing there, unmoving and silent as ever. He reminds me of a brick wall occasionally. "I raise my question again: what do you mean, she won't have to deal with me?"

Dr M ran a hand through her hair. "I think it would be best, Brigid, if we continued this tomorrow. It seems I have some explaining to do."

Brigid gave her a curt nod, collected her things, and left out the front door. Moments later, I heard the low rumble of her car starting and the crunch of gravel as she left the driveway. Dr M turned to face Fang and I. "Could you tell the others to get down here?"

I was curious as to what she wanted to explain, so I went about getting everyone's butts down the stairs as quickly as possible. I poked my head in Angel and Nudge's door and delivered the message, Fang taking care of the rooms on the other side of the hall. I followed Gazzy back down the stairs, resisting the very strong urge to trip him for no reason. I'm already in enough trouble with Dr M.

Soon enough, we were all collected in the kitchen. I leaned against the fridge next to Fang, and the twins were seated on the counter, long legs dangling off the edge. Ella leaned over the counter, chin in her hands, and Nudge and Angel stood by the island. Dr M herself was standing at the far end of the kitchen.

"I was planning on telling you all later this month," she began, "but circumstances changed." Yeah, yeah, now get to the point! "I think you've all done very well lately, for the most part-" she stopped and gave me a stern look- "and I think you can handle behaving at least slightly well around a large amount of people. So… I've decided to enroll you in school."

Chaos erupted.

* * *

><p>Seriously, I'm not even kidding. It was absolute chaos.<p>

Imagine this: Lots of yelling. Lots of people saying "WHAT?" And I'm pretty sure someone yelled, over the din, "Is mayonnaise an instrument?" (See, Gazzy watches too much Spongebob with Angel for his own good. But when she begs, how can he say no?)

Nudge and Ella, of course, were ecstatic that they would be going to the same school, in the same grade. Angel, too, was happy that she was finally going to be able to play with kids her age and make friends, and the twins looked as devious as ever. Fang was indifferent- as he is to most things- and I…

Well, I wasn't that happy about it. Not that unhappy, but still.

I mean, I was absolutely in love with the fact that I would never have to see Brigid again after December. (We start after Christmas break is over.) And Dr M was right, my attitude towards people in general had improved a lot. As in, I don't dislike everyone I happen to talk to for more than five minutes. I give people a (small) chance now.

But I seriously still do not have any people skills.

In fact, after everyone left and I was slipping out the door, Dr M had me stay behind. She took a seat at the table and patted the chair next to her, inviting me to sit down. At first I couldn't call to mind why she would have me stay, but then I remembered that I was in trouble, and the klaxon alarms in my head started going off.

I sat down uneasily and gave her a wary glance. "Yeah?"

"Max…" Dr M sighed wearily. Well, this wasn't the Scowl of Impending Wrath I'd been prepared for. (Good thing, too, because Fang wasn't here to shield me from it.) "I don't know how to get through to you. You really can't act like you did today when you're in school in January. And that's less than a month away."

I opened my mouth, planning to say something like, "I REGRET NOTHING!" and run for it, but then- to my dismay and disgust- guilt washed over me. See, guilt is almost a foreign concept to me. I just sat there, unsure of what to do or say. Dr M ran a hand through her hair.

"I've seen your records from old schools. All the trouble you've gotten into doesn't look good on your file. How many schools have you gotten kicked out of? Four? Five? This is your chance, Max. Your chance to clean up your act. You just have to control your temper."

My nails dug into my palm, and I looked down. "I was frustrated, okay? And my head hurt."

She shook her head. "You can't just let your outbursts happen like that. I want you to do better, Max, I really do." She gave me a pleading look. "At least try. Promise me you'll try."

I knew that if I made that promise, I could never keep it. It's not something I like to admit, but I have only a more diluted version of my father's temper. A short fuse that burned out quickly, and when the flame got lit, I couldn't put it out easily.

Counting to ten just didn't work for me.

I thought about it for a minute, and then took a deep breath. "I'll try not to beat anyone up."

She smiled softly at me. "Thank you, Max."

* * *

><p><strong>Dun dun dun duuunnnn…. Couple hours later 'n stuff….<strong>

ThirdPersonPOV

"Nudge?"

A voice sounded throughout the quiet room, and the mocha-skinned girl twisted around to face the speaker. Ella stood in the doorway, biting her lip.

Nudge blinked in surprise. "Ella? What are you doing up? It's, like, really late."

"I could ask you the same question," Ella said, gesturing at the desk Nudge was sitting at. Books, crumpled sheets of notebook paper, and several pencil stubs littered its surface. A small desk lamp emitted a warm glow, casting shadows and leaving all but the corners of the room unlit. "And it's really not that late. Only about ten."

"Oh. I guess I, um, lost track of time," Nudge said, shrugging. Ella noted that there were bags under her eyes. "I had to finish some homework. Brigid really likes to dump it on us when Max makes her mad, you know?"

"Moody teachers suck," Ella agreed.

"Hey, what did you need again? I just kinda forgot. Fail." Nudge facepalmed a little to prove her point.  
>And Ella was back to chewing a hole in her lip. "I- you were a little… uh, distant this morning," she hedged.<p>

"Distant how? Because, like, you know I'm not a morning person. Well, unless I've already eaten, because then I'm-"

"No, not like that," Ella cut in, shaking her head. "I mean like I could actually count the number of words in your sentences. Later, you seemed fine, but…" She frowned. "Nudge, you looked absolutely terrified when my mom mentioned taking a plane."

Nudge froze like she'd been suddenly dropped into a negative-fifty-degree environment.

Ella took it as a bad sign, but continued on. "And I thought it might have something to do with…" she faltered, barely daring to say what she was thinking. "I hope this doesn't offend or hurt you in any way, but Nudge, did your parents die in a plane crash?"

Nudge still looked like an icecube for about a minute, still not saying a word. In any other circumstances, Ella would have thought it a miracle. But finally, when the silence was unbearable and Ella was about to ask if she was okay, the curly-haired girl spoke.

"Yeah," she began, slowly but deliberately. Nudge looked like she might be blinking back tears. "Yeah, they did. I was nine, and my parents were going to New York for some big corporate convention. They left me to stay with a babysitter… but the plane crashed on the way back. Not too many people make it out of plane crashes."

"Oh, Nudge," Ella said softly. "I'm so sorry…"

Nudge wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She hadn't been crying, but there was definitely the threat. That ache behind her eyes, that lump in her throat that made it hard to talk. "It's not your fault. Don't be," she mumbled. "People always say they're so sorry. They're so sorry. Sorry doesn't fix jack shit, you know? Pity gets you nowhere. I hate it when people say that," she said blankly. "The first person who said it to me was the person who told me my parents were dead. I remember perfectly what day it happened, where I was, who told me, and exactly what she said."

"I didn't mean to offend you," Ella apologized, turning slightly red. Nudge didn't swear often, but when she did, it meant she was pretty worked up. "You aren't- you aren't mad, are you?"

The glimpse of Nudge's other side was gone as soon as it was there. "No, I'm not mad," she denied quickly. "You were curious. I get that. Although sometimes being curious ends pretty badly…" A thoughtful expression appeared on her face. "Like that one time when I was little and I wondered what would happen if I stuck a fork into the toaster, and-" She cut herself off, grinning a little. "I was about to ramble, wasn't I?"

Ella smiled back. "It seemed like it," she admitted. "So… you good?"

"I'm good," she assured her.

Ella exhaled in relief. "You know, we're watching a movie down in the basement. Napoleon Dynamite. Screw homework, it's Friday. Wanna come watch?"

Nudge stood up and shut her textbook, stretching. "I'd like that," she said, nodding, and walked with Ella out the door. As they continued down the stairs, Nudge grinned and got a devious look on her face. "You know, I bet you'd like to see Iggy dance like Napoleon does, but without a shirt on-"

She was silenced by a light smack on the shoulder from her best friend, and just stayed content with the expression on Ella's face.

**Me: Night, guys. Thanks for being so awesome and reviewing. Lol, tomorrow's Black Friday and I'm dragging Fang shopping with me...**

**Fang: Help. Me.**

**Me: So many sales! I think I'll buy him a My Little Pony T-shirt. You know, that one that says "I'm gonna love and tolerate the SHIT outta you!" By the way, what didja think of the Fax? If it sucked... I just... FUCK IT I'M GOING TO BED.**

**-Sierra**


	22. You're Kidding Me

**MERRY CHRISTMAS/HANUKKAH/KWANZAA/WHATEVER YOU CELEBRATE, MOTHABROTHAS!**

**Fang: ...And a happy freaking New Year. T.T Chill, Sierra.**

**Me: I can't! I got the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians set. And I get to read Mockingjay tomorrow on the plane! (To the person that asked, yes, I have read The Hunger Games, and I LOVE them.) So here's my shitty present to you guys: five thousand words of filler crap that will hopefully make you laugh a little! Merry Christmas, ingrates!**

**Some questions and comments that need answering:**

**-Guys, guys, guys. Come on. I got so many reviews that said stuff about how they couldn't wait for Max to meet Lissa when they went to school. FUCK NO. I am sorry, but that is such an overused clíche, and if they do meet Lissa, she will not be a slut. Understand me? She will not be all over Fang like my kitty to catnip, if I even put her in.**

**-Some of you are wondering about Sam. Okay, so nothing about him as come up in a while. Well, I'm sitting here with Sam right now, and we are fiendishly twirling our figurative mustaches while figuring out in what ways best to torment Fang. So let's say for now that Sam is waiting for information on Fang. (I'm so lame.)**

**-YEEEAAHHH SOMEONE GOT THE KRONK'S NEW GROOVE REFERENCE! Many kudos (or shirtless pictures of Fang, whichever you prefer) to** mari713!

**Okay, dudes. Prepare for more of Max being tormented! Sorry, but I just LOVE doing this to her. You'll see what I mean. (It's payback for running away from Fang when he kisses her in the books.)**

* * *

><p>MaxPoV<p>

You know that feeling when you really want to punch whoever's trying to wake you up in the face? Really hard?

Yeah, well, I had that feeling right about now.

"Come on, Max. Up. You can sleep in the car," he/she said. Oh, right. Today was the day we went up to Colorado.

"Mmmmpppphh" was all that would come out of my mouth as I stuck my head under my pillow, instead of the "I hate you, let me sleep" thing I had planned out.

My would-be waker attempted to pull the pillow off my head, but I held fast to it and avoided him/her by rolling over. Which actually wasn't such a good idea, because I rolled off the side of the bed, taking all my sheets with me.

I believe one of those T.T emoticons would be appropriate right now. You know, if I owned a phone. Or had someone to text.

I opened one eye to see Fang standing over me, looking amused. "You know, you wouldn't be so hopelessly tangled up right now if you'd just gotten out of bed."

"Who said anything about hopelessly?" I mumbled. "I can get myself out of this..."

"You can't untangle yourself if I'm carrying you down the stairs."

"Pick me up and you die." Upon giving him that fair warning, I curled up and went back to sleep, letting the sunlight coming in through the windows heat up my skin. It's one of those moments when you feel like a cat.

A couple minutes later, in my probably-more-than-half-asleep state, I had the slight sensation that someone was scooping me up to carry me. But I didn't even remember that Fang had threatened to pick me up, so how was I supposed to know that he was actually going to carry out that threat?

But, of course, it woke me right up when he dumped me on the couch downstairs.

I bolted upright and looked around. "Fang? How did I get...?" My eyes narrowed as realization dawned. "Oh, you did not."

He had that annoyingly amused look on his face again. "I had my orders," he said, shrugging. "They went kinda like "Get Max out of bed at any and all costs so she can get her stuff out to the car."

"Yeah, but you carried me down the stairs like a freaking sack of potatoes!"

"Actually, you were asleep. How would you know which particular vegetable you were carried like? It could have been broccoli-"

I was staring at him and wondering what the hell had gotten into him lately when Ella interrupted him. "Max! No killing anyone! Go eat breakfast!"

"But I wasn't going to k-"

"No buts! Go!" she ordered

"Sheesh. Fine," I muttered. It was scary how much she was like her mom sometimes. Like, literally scary. And besides, I wasn't done with Fang yet- but I caught the scent of pancakes coming from the kitchen, and Iggy's pancakes are not something to be taken lightly.

I sauntered into the kitchen, yawning, and immediately stepped in a puddle of water (at least, I really hope it was water), getting my awesome fuzzy socks wet. "Ugh. Who spilled water on the floor?"

"We let Total in earlier so Dr. M could take him to the kennel while we're gone," Iggy answered, dishing out pancakes to Nudge and Gazzy. "I don't think it's water."

Stepping in dog piss. Just my freaking luck. I peeled off the socks and tossed them in the trash, because no matter how many times I washed them, I was not wearing socks that had once stepped in dog pee. I have my limits. (Why the hell isn't Total housebroken yet?)

Angel looked unusually subdued as she picked at her pancakes. "I don't see why we can't take him with us," she said sullenly. "He doesn't need to stay in a kennel."

Passing by her seat, Gazzy ruffled her hair. "Sorry, kiddo. You can't keep a dog in a car for five hours, and it's gonna be cold and snowy up in Aspen. Besides, Dr. M's family has a cat. It just wouldn't work out."

I had about two seconds to think _"whoa, Gazzy's actually being realistic about something"_ before I fully registered what he'd said.

"Aspen?" I inquired as indifferently as possible.

"Yeah," Ella replied, taking a bite of her eggs. "That's where they live."

Aspen. They _freaking_ lived in _Aspen._ You have _got to be kidding me._

Excuse me, but life is a BITCH.

I set down my plate and slipped out of the room and down the hall to Dr. M's room, where I could see her silhouette in the doorway, zipping up her suitcase. She faced me just as I got to the doorway, dusting off her hands on her pants. "I see that Fang got you out of bed. What do you need?"

"You didn't tell me," I ground out. "You didn't tell me where we're going, and you _knew_ what that place is to me! You have my record, and you _didn't even warn me!"_

"I was going to tell you after you ate, Max. I really was," she said, pushing a stray strand of hair back. "I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want you to see this trip as something to be dreaded. It might not be so bad."

I snorted. "Might not be so bad? What can you understand about _any_ of this?"

She was silent for a moment, giving me a long, searching look. "Max, I can be empathetic; I can put myself in your shoes. I know how you must be feeling right now-"

"No, you don't! You _don't_ know. You've always had family. Don't you tell me you know how I feel!" I fired back.

"You need to get control of yourself, right now. It's an unlucky coincidence that my family lives there, and that your family used to- but you're just going to have to deal with it," she said sharply. "You are capable of blocking it out, and I know you are. It's what you do best. Now do it."

"Fine." But trust me, I wasn't just laying down like that." But the next time something like this comes up, you have no right to keep it from me. I don't care what it is- I want to know."

"If that's what you want. But just make sure that by the time we're in the car, you have it under control," she told me.

I didn't have anything more to say other than "whatever" which was a little too 'typical teenager' for me, so I left without another word, heading up the stairs to the one person I could rant to as much as I wanted.

I hadn't spoken to Fang since he carried me down the stairs (ugh), and when I did, it wasn't exactly a 'good morning kinda thing. I walked into his room where her was packing some last-minute things, grabbed a pillow, held it to my face, and yelled until I was satisfied.

When I looked up, his eyes were on me. "I'm thinking your morning hasn't been so great," he guessed.

I rolled over, holding the black pillow to my chest, and I noted that it smelled like cinnamon. "Uh-huh. You could say that again."

"I'm thinking your morning hasn't been so great," he repeated.

I looked at him flatly. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, can I please go on a long, unedited rant? I think I'll explode if I don't."

"Rant away. Exploding is bad." He gestured for me to go ahead.

I looked up at the ceiling again. "Dr M _didn't freaking tell me_ that we were going to Aspen and I'm so _freaking_ pissed off right now and then she was all "I know how you feel" and she freaking _doesn't_ and I'm so _pissed off_ that I can't stop _freaking _saying 'freaking' and I really freaking want to punch someone in the face! I'm freakin' out, man, freakin' out!" By this time, I was pacing around and running my hands through my hair.

"I already knew," he answered, and I stared. TRAITOR. He saw my expression and held his hands up in defense. "She just said so this morning when you were asleep. I didn't have any time to tell you, or I would have."

I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. "Figures. She tells everyone else before me. Why does the universe hate me so much?"

"Look on the bright side," Fang suggested.

"_What _bright side?"

He shrugged. "No idea. I was hoping you'd know."

You can't really put two semi-pessimists together and expect them to think of a bright side. "But, hey. It's not like we're staying in my old house or anything." I shuddered. "That would just be pushing it too far."

"See? Bright side. It could be worse." Fang nudged me with his elbow as he slung his black backpack over his shoulder. "We should be getting out to the car."

"Yeah. Time for five hours of being packed in a car with seven other people," I said with faux cheerfulness. "Um. Actually, maybe I could just stay here."

"No, claustrophobic girl. You're coming with," Fang told me, taking me by the wrist and literally dragging me out of the room. "Unless, of course, you want me to carry you again-"

"Don't you _dare_."

"That's what I thought," he said, wearing a small smirk as we made our way out to the car. Asshole.

I'd cooled down by the time we were packed into the car like sardines- and I was starting to worry if I'd still be sane by the time we got there, because I was sandwiched between Fang and Iggy (stupid boys and calling dibs on window seats), and the latter seemed to have developed, along with his brother, a passion for singing parodies of Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. Don't even get me started on Joy To The World. Ella, Nudge, and Angel sat behind us in the backseat, and Gazzy had shotgun.

I settled back in my seat with my iPod in and the volume down, closed my eyes, and tried to get some sleep as we pulled out of the driveway. I was still tired- I mean, I woke up about an hour ago at six 'o clock. You know, after not going to sleep until about one the night before. (Don't ask why, because I'm not even sure.)

I didn't drift off until we were on the outskirts of town, mainly because my thoughts were so preoccupied. I'd made up my mind; this was the first time in years that I'd spent Christmas with people I actually cared about, and Jeb wasn't going to screw it up for me. It wasn't fair that he could affect me so much when he was locked up in a freakin' prison, so I was going to do my best to not think about it. Dr. M was right, anyway. Blocking it out was what I did best.

This was one thing Jeb _would not_ touch.

* * *

><p>... And because my life so unquestionably, undeniably strange, I woke up with Ella and Nudge whisper-singing "Moves Like Jagger" in my ear from the seat behind me, the car stopped at a nondescript gas station in the middle of nowhere, and Iggy bolting out the door, yelling, "Gotta pee gotta pee gotta pee!" As if we want to know.<p>

"Where are we?" I yawned, trying to stretch and kinda failing. I hate it when you're in a car and you can't stretch your legs out all the way.

"Southwest Colorado. We just stopped for a break," replied Dr. M, taking a sip from a Styrofoam cup. "I needed coffee, and almost everyone needed to stretch after two hours. If you need to, do it now."

I took the opportunity and slid across the seat and out the door, partly to stretch and partly to get away from Ella singing, "I got them moves like Jagger, I got them moves like Jagger, I got them moooOOOOOOoooves like Jagger!" I do _not _want that song stuck in my head.

Standing outside in the chilly air, I stretched my arms above my head and yawned, the cold wind biting at my nose and going straight through my jacket. It could get really cold down in Mesa, but up here in Colorado, it was freezing. Snow everywhere. (Except when it turned into brown slush on the roads.) And as we went further north, it was only going to get colder.

I looked around at the mountains that were more like really, really steep hills at this point, on either side of the road for as far as I could see, dotted with brush and pine trees. Combined with the gray, dismal sky and the unforgiving wind, the atmosphere was pretty doom-and gloom.

But hey- it's Christmas, folks. Almost.

I hugged myself, arms acting as a shield against the cold, and drew in a deep breath of the frigid air. I glanced back at the car where Fang was still sleeping, hair in annoyingly perfect disarray, and contemplated stealing the hoodie in his lap that he'd discarded earlier. I mean, if he's asleep, he's not really using it, and it's _so cold-_

But then Iggy walked back out of the station and back up to the car. (I'm going to start calling him Squirrel Bladder. That can be his Indian name.) "Ready to go?" Dr M asked from inside the car. "Load back up, everyone."

I climbed back into the car and was immediately greeted by Ella and Nudge starting with that pointless song again the second I buckled up.

"Take me away, and make it okay, I swear I'll behave-"

I clamped my hands over my ears and tried to block it out, not quite stooping to the "LALALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" option. They started giggling as soon as they had proof of my annoyance. (See? This is what happened when you trap two teenage girls and a bunch of sugary stuff in the backseat of a car. How much Mountain Dew have they drunk so far?)

Fang was so lucky he was asleep. It was going to be a really freaking long drive from here on out.

* * *

><p>Hour five. Twins finally asleep. Want food. Fang's awake. He's hungry too. So's Nudge. Fooood. Can't talk in complete sentences. Screw pronouns. FOOD.<p>

"We're almost there," Dr. M promised. "We'll be able to eat when we get to the house."

"But I thought you packed some cookies," Nudge wheedled. "I mean, I could go for about eight of those McHeartAttacks right now."

I sat up so face I hit Iggy in the face. "Cookies? Food?"

"No," Dr. M said firmly. "Those are for everyone else, after we get there."

"Just one?"

"No."

"I'm staaaaarving," Nudge whined, holding her stomach. "Fooood."

"Fooooood," I agreed.

Fang cast me a lazy glance, slouched against the window. "Did you even eat breakfast?"

I scratched my head, trying to remember. "Um... no," I admitted sheepishly. "I was otherwise occupied. I forgot."

"You're telling me that you, Max, forgot to eat?" Dr M said in disbelief. "You eat almost as much as the boys."

Ella grimaced. "Yeah. And you're still that skinny. No fair. Can I trade you metabolisms?"

I scooted further away from her as if she could steal it. "Nope. I think I like mine." I mean, seriously. I can eat whatever I want. It has me wondering if I made a deal with the devil for it as a baby.

"Are we there yet?" Nudge asked. "I'm gonna diiiiiieeeeee. Gimme food."

I had to suppress the random urge to start chanting "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" like kids always did in those road trip movies. Fang glanced out at a road sign. "Aspen: fifty miles," he read. "That's pretty far."

"ZOMG! And then we can, like, go to KFC and get fifteen buckets of that fried chicken stuff-"

"Whoa, there," I cut in, shutting Nudge up. "You forgot about bacon. SuperSonic bacon burgers. Hell yeah."

"I could sit here and listen to you guys talk about edible heart attacks all day," Fang yawned, "but I'm gonna try to go back to sleep." His hair was sticking up all over the place from earlier, and when he ran a hand through it right before he slouched back down into his seat, I couldn't stop myself from thinking DAMN, LET ME DO THAT FOR YOU.

Stupid teenage girl hormones.

Then there was a shriek from the backseat that made me jump. I turned around. "Jesus, Nudge, what is it?"

"ZOMG I WAS DERPING AROUND ON ELLA'S PHONE AND THEN I WAS MAKING A SMILEY FACE BUT I DERPED AND MADE IT A POINTY BRACKET THING AND NOW IT LOOKS LIKE A MUSTACHE! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

I stared as I gingerly removed my fingers from my ears. "In English, please?" What the hell is _derp?_

Nude sighed and proceeded to explain it slowly and carefully. (It's a Christmas miracle!) "I was making a smiley face emoticon, but I, like, messed up, and made it that pointy little bracket, and now it looks like a mustache," she said, holding up the phone so I could see it.

The little white window for text had a :{ in it, in black letters. Numbers. Whatever the hell those are categorized in. "And that makes this the best day of your life why, exactly?" I questioned.

"Don't question the 'stache, Max," Nude said wisely. I inspected her closely, wondering if she was on crack. What? It's possible...

The next fifteen minutes were spent by me being driven insane by Iggy. When he woke back up, I took one look at the scaring devious smile on his face, and knew that shit was about to go down. "Shit" just happened to entail lots of poking me, on his part, Iggy asking me if he could do my makeup, me asking Iggy if I could do HIS makeup, me punching Iggy, me slapping Iggy, Iggy shoving me into Fang and squealing "AWWWW!", me slapping Iggy again... You get the picture. Point is, if you put Iggy and me into a car for five hours (and we did all this in fifteen minutes), we'll start World War III. Gazzy watched the whole thing while pretending to eat popcorn.

Dr M finally intervened when I punched him in the nuts after he wouldn't stop singing "The Song That Never Ends." She yelled at us to shut up until we quieted down and made me wake up a very disgruntled Fang so that he could switch seats with me. Trust me, I would've loved to go on making it so that Iggy would never have children, but Dr. M just wasn't having any of that.

So when we passed the sign that said "Welcome to Aspen", I felt like:

a) exploding because I had to get out of this freaking car, b) killing Iggy with my McDonald's bendy straw, or c) grabbing Fang's hoodie, putting it on, pulling the hood over my face, and curling up into a ball, preferably next to Fang.

Now, look. You may be wondering about that last option, possibly thinking, "what is this? Is Max possibly being... no, it can't be... pathetic?"

Well, the answer to that, which I admit with much shame, ladies and gents, is yes. Yes I am. I am pathetic as hell. Go ahead and shout it from the _freaking rooftops._

I didn't want this. No matter how tough I am, I was just not prepared to go back to this place. Are you kidding me? I lived here with my abusive father for five years. And it was a pretty small town- chances are I was going to have to pass by my old house at some point.

So the curling up in a ball thing next to my best friend thing was sounding pretty good right now. I mean, come on- I keep up on the whole toughness thing 99% of the time. I should be allowed to indulge once in a while.

As we drove slowly past rows of houses and shops- a few of them recognizable to me, but mostly not- Fang must have seen right through my smooth, emotionless expression, because his hand found mine and squeezed lightly. And I'm pretty sure I left some nail marks on his palm when we passed the cemetery where I knew Mom to be buried.

But I knew that if I could, I was gonna be going back there. I had a tradition to keep; one that I hadn't been able to after I left this place for my first foster home.

Since the car crash, I'd always visited Mom's grave on the day she died. June eighteenth, just Ari and me; provided that we could sneak out. And we always found a way, somehow. That is, until he ran out on me. Then I was alone.

It wouldn't be the same in doing it in the summer, but a chance was a chance, and I hadn't seen it in three years. So maybe... maybe I could take Fang with me this time. That is, if I got the chance to go.

"We're here!" Dr M announced when we pulled into the driveway of a small, cream-colored house, and I swear to you that I flat out ninja-rolled out the car door, yelling "FREEDOM!"

The claustrophobia gets to me. Just a little bit.

Ella's aunt and uncle waited for us at the door. Tania was pretty much a younger version of Dr M, but with straight hair that fell past her shoulders and skin just a shade less tan than her older sister's. Chris was pale-skinned and broad-shouldered, with short black hair and hazel eyes, and he wasn't that much of a bad-looking guy.

"Val!" Tania exclaimed, giving her sister a tight hug. "A year is too long not to have seen you."

"I've been looking forward to it," Dr M replied, smiling. "It's great that you finally get to meet everyone."

"Yep. All six of them," Chris said. "Jeez, Val. You must have a lot on your hands." He dropped a wink in our direction.

"Wait," Tania said suddenly. "Don't tell me who's who. I want to see if I can figure it out from what you've told us on the phone." She gave us all a careful once-over.

"Let's see- you're the youngest, so you must be Angel," she said, smiling at said unlawfully adorable little girl, and Angel nodded and smiling dazzlingly back. "Your name certainly lives up to your looks."

"Betcha can't guess which one of us is the one with the emo name," Gazzy said, jerking his head not-so-discreetly at Fang.

The latter rolled his eyes. "It's not emo... _Gasman."_

"You're The Gasman? The one I should stay upwind of?" Chris inquired, and Gazzy nodded, wearing a proud grin. "Sweet. I hear you can clear a room in seconds."

"I never said anything like that," Dr. M protested.

"Ah, but I inferred it."

Tania had a thoughtful look on her face as he studied Nudge, Iggy, and I. "Iggy," she decided, looking up at him. "You're Iggy. I figured it out by-"

"By the eyes?" he said wryly. "I get that a lot." They definitely stood out; clouded over, baby blue, and unfocused.

"By the hair, actually," she replied with a half-smile, and he raised an eyebrow. "I was told it was strawberry blonde."

"So you recognized me because I'm a ginger? How come nobody told me I was a ginger?" he demanded. "I was under the impression that I had a soul!"

"Strawberry blonde, Ig," Ella soothed. "There's a difference."

"You lie."

Tania turned away from their banter to face Nudge and I. "Max and Nudge, then," she stated. "It's easy to tell which is which, by name. Speaking of names..." Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Nudge. "How did you get yours? It's very... interesting."

"Oh. Well, my name's actually, like, Monique, which is a pretty name to me and all, but I had some friends who always complained about how I wouldn't stop talking and stuff, and then one day Sarah was all like "OMG, Monique! You start, like, babbling whenever we start talking about something, so I'm gonna call you Nudge!" ZOMG, that made no sense. Sorry, Tania. Wait, can I call you that? Or, like, do you prefer Mrs. Anderson? Because I can-"

When Tania looked sufficiently wide-eyed at Nudge's babbling, I had some mercy on the woman and slipped my hand over Nudge's mouth. "And that is why we call her Nudge."

"Impressive... Do you, perhaps, have an extra set of lungs?" she queried with eyebrows raised.

"Nope. It just comes naturally, which is actually a bit freakish," Nudge replied sheepishly. "Sorry if I made your ears bleed."

Tania pretended to check. "No blood. Now, how about we get everyone settled in? Let's see... There are eight of you this time. The two from last year pales in comparison," she laughed. "We've got two guest rooms and a basement. Sorry about our rather small accommodations."

"It's fine, Tania. But I did tell you I could have rented rooms at a hotel-"

"Nah, it's Christmas, Val, and you're family. We wanted you to stay here, so we'll make it work out," said Chris with a shrug, cutting off Dr M.

And work out it did, even if it was pretty cramped. Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy took the basement (as soon as they decided this, there was much disagreement over who had dibs on the couch), and Ella, Nudge, Angel, and I shared a guest room, Dr. M in the room next to us. She'd offered to take the living room couch instead so we could spread out a little more, but we told her it was fine. Actually, I didn't mind sleeping on the floor much, because for one thing, I've slept in worse places, and two? They had one of those awesome squishy air mattresses.

We finally ate- finally- and at first, Tania was a little worried that Iggy would hurt himself when he helped them make dinner, which only proves that she had a lot to learn about us. But he quickly allayed her worries when he showed off his quote-unquote "mad skillz with a frying pan."

We had to squeeze just to sit at the table. Lemme tell ya, that thing was not made for ten people. This place was tiny. Everything about it was tiny. Well, except for the plasma-screen TV Chris was downstairs watching football on with Gazzy.

I was brushing my teeth, quite unsuspecting of a ninja attack, when Fang _literally_ popped up right behind me, and I jumped about ten feet into the air. (Okay, so maybe it wasn't ten feet, but exaggeration makes everything sound cooler and less lame than just being snuck up on.)

"I thought you said you were used me by now," he said with a thoughtful look on his face, standing at my shoulder. "Guess not."

"Yeah- but it's nighttime and everything's dark- and-" I sputtered. "You're like the freaking Batman or something!"

"Batman?" he mused. "Well, that makes me more badass than ever."

I rolled my eyes. "You're not badass."

"Well, I'm not trying to impress you or anything, but sometimes I drink milk straight from the carton."

"That's disgusting!"

"I'm kidding. That's a good way to get everybody sick, though... So if you ever have a virus and want to get revenge on everyone- wait, why am I giving you ideas?"

"Because I need them," I answered, putting away my toothbrush. "Thanks for that one."

"You're welcome," he said sarcastically. "Don't use it."

"I will. Now, what do you want?"

"You really don't want me around today, do you?"

"Just tired. Cut to the chase; I wanna go to bed."

"I was going to ask how you were... holding up, to put it that way. You looked a little pale coming into town. But you seem okay now."

I shrugged and started pulling my hair into a ponytail. "Yeah, well, I decided I'm not letting Jeb screw this one up. I'm gonna have a good time if it kills me."

"I admire your wholly optimistic view of things," he said dryly. "Good luck with that good time. I'm pretty sure Iggy's plotting your demise right now."

"He can have fun with that." I stepped out of the bathroom and shut off the light. "But- there is one thing."

"And what would that be?"

I hesitated. "There's- there's this tradition, sort of. I mean, I haven't done it since I was twelve, but..."

"Go on."

"Look, if I went to visit my mom's grave, if Dr. M let me go, would you come with me? I- I don't want to be alone if I do that." That last sentence slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it as I stood outside of my room.

"Of course I'd go," he said like the answer was obvious. (Honestly, I'm not quite sure why I doubted it in the first place.) "That's what I'm here for, isn't it?"

"Yeah... I guess."

"And look- if you need to talk about it, come wake me up in the middle of the night. I don't care. You need me, I'm there."

"I know you are." When isn't he? It's nice to have someone I can count on, that I can actually trust... "Night, Fang."

"Night, Max."

I watched him leave for the stairs as I opened the door into my room. And as I collapsed onto the air mattress, I didn't know it, but my two-month no-nightmare streak was about to be broken.

**Lolz. Toldja I love tormenting her. -twirls mustache- Now I know there wasn't much Fax or Eggy in that, but prepare yourselves for mucho más impresionante Eggy in the next chapter or so! ANd Fax, of course, but more Eggy. I'm just centering on them for a bit. Bear with me. I CAN'T WAIT TO POST THE CHAPTER WITH THE-**

**Fang: -covers my mouth- No spoilers!**

**Me: -removes hand- Oh, right. Heheheh. One more thing for you guys to think about- maybe a couple mental images:**

**Figgy pudding.**

**HAVE FUN WITH THAT.  
><strong>

**-Sierra **


	23. Seriously, Iggy?

**To my wonderful betas: Yes, I sent this to you. Sorry that I posted it before you got back to me. I know you don't have a lot of time, and that's all right. But what can I say? I'm impatient. You'd think that after years of watching Star Wars movies with those Jedi and all that I'd have learned by now, but nope. XD Anyway, I didn't get to tell you earlier, but you're both amazingly, bacontastically awesome. :D**

**And to my beautiful reviewers? YOU GUYS ARE SO FREAKING AWESOME. I love every little review I get from you guys! They make my day, and I love to hear your opinions, whether they be good, bad, or constructive-criticism. Even if you can't capitalize or punctuate for shit. As long as it's understandable, THANKEE :D**

**Someone asked me if I was giving up on this, probably because I hadn't updated in so long. To that anonymous reviewer: Have ye so little faith in me? Know that I won't ever give up on this story. It will be done when I die/go blind/lose use of my hand/or it gets finished. Sierra is no quitter. Count on that.**

**Fang: Done with your monologue yet?**

**Me: Nope. In fact, I was just about to rant about how you wouldn't _shut up_ on Wednesday night at the Star Wars movie! If you don't understand the plot, shut up and watch the movie!**

**Fang: You dragged me along with you! I didn't want to go see _Nerdy-Ass Star Wars Freaking Episode One The Freaking Phantom Menace_ in 3-D!**

**Me: I couldn't exactly leave you at home with my bacon stash. Duh. Anyway, on with the chapter! This is my late Valentine's Day present to you guys. 'Cause I love you in the least weird way possible and you're amazing.**

* * *

><p><strong>MaxPOV<strong>

Gasping, shaking, and in a cold sweat, I woke.

I pressed a hand over my mouth to shut in my heavy breathing, trying not to wake anyone up. The ceiling above me with shadows cast across it seemed to shut me in, like a cage, and I suddenly felt claustrophobic.

Not another nightmare.

My efforts to keep quiet apparently weren't sufficient, because Ella rolled over in her sleeping bag to face me with eyes half-shut, yawning. "Max… You okay?"

"Go back to sleep," I mumbled to her, making it seem like I was just stretching. Throwing in a yawn seemed to help. Ah, such wonderful acting skills have I. Right.

" 'Kay," she sighed sleepily, and rolled over again, falling right back into sleep. I checked the digital alarm clock above my head, sitting on the table behind me for the time: in glowing, blurry red letters, it said 2:07 A.M. Freaking wonderful. Yet another next-to-sleepless night. I hauled myself out of my hot, smothering sleeping bag, and over to the dark bathroom, closing the door behind me and squinting hard at the slightest luminescence when I flipped the light switch on. Ow.

When my eyes adjusted, I peered at myself in the mirror; let's just say that I didn't quite look like America's Next Top Model right now. Dark, purplish circles lay under my eyes, and it wasn't from an iron deficiency. More like a sleep deficiency. I seemed paler than usual, my ponytail was a rat's nest, and even the long-sleeved t-shirt I wore couldn't hide the fact that my hands shook a bit as they steadied me on the counter.

I'd like to say that it was because I was sick, or just because I'd woken up in the middle of the night and everyone looks like crap then.

But to be honest? It wasn't.

My good friend Sleep had decided to ditch me lately, instead leaving me with his buddy Nightmares About Jeb Every Freaking Night. They were relentless. Who knew that in the span of two nights you could have so many freaking bad dreams? 'Dear subconscious: please keep it to one per night' is obviously not a phrase that said subconscious could understand. Over and over and over again. Jeb, Jeb, Jeb. Everywhere. I was almost afraid to go to sleep because I knew what was coming.

Key word 'almost'. I've still got my unmitigated badassery.

I splashed a handful of cold water on my face and took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm down. Just a dream, right? Right. _You're not a kid anymore, Max. This kinda thing isn't supposed to scare you._

Sleeping wasn't going to happen for a while unless I allowed myself to consider the alternative: waking Fang up. As in, in the middle of the night and disturbing his sleep just because of a dream. Well, lots of dreams. But I won't, because I'm not about to be so selfish, even though he told me to, no matter what the time/circumstances. (It leaves me wondering why life decided to make me miserable and then and only then give me a little shred of good luck in the form of Fang.)

"Get out of my head," I muttered darkly to my reflection in the mirror, directing the sentence to my dear old dad. Seemed like tonight I could even see him in my own face, even though most had told me that I took after my mom…

Pushing the stray hairs out of my field of vision, I left through the bathroom door that led into the hallway and down to the kitchen, which was remarkably small in comparison to the one back home. My freakishly wacked-up brain decided that_ hey, this would be an awesome time to steal something chocolate-related!_ Which wasn't that bad of an idea, now that I think about it. Ah, chocolate. The temporary answer to all emotional problems.

Oh, don't give me that look. I'm a human teenage girl. What were you expecting?

On the counter sat a paper plate patterned with little snowmen that held a pile of fudge cubes covered with plastic wrap. (Holy crap, did those have caramel on them? Forget anything bad I said about Iggy.) Iggy had made fudge the other night to flaunt his admittedly awesome cooking skills. Tania was worried that he'd hurt himself after he offered to help make dinner. There was much amazement and consuming of delicious fudge, but just enough left over for desperate Maxes to abscond with early in the morning. Wayyy early.

I absentmindedly savored a piece in the pale light coming in throughmthe window, sitting on the edge of the sink and wondering exactly how much fun it might be to stab my father with a spork. Repeatedly. In his foul, grimy face. Yeah. Maybe it wouldn't help me sleep easier tonight (bad news for the Black Eyed Peas, but I did not have a feeling that tonight was going to be a good night), but it was fun. And it didn't worry me in the slightest at the moment that I was becoming like him. That I was almost sinking to his level, in a sense.

What really worried me was the bulky silhouette _outside the freaking window._

I practically fell off the countertop and backed right up into the stove, hitting my hip hard on it and cursing loudly. _Ow, ow, ow._ My eyes flicked down to it for a split second (later, I cursed myself for not paying attention to the creeper looking in at me), and when they shot back up to the window- nothing.

Nothing at all.

I crept carefully to the window, stomach still tight, and peered out at the backyard. No crazy stalker creeping around in the lightly falling snow. My eyes swept the yard again. Still nothing.

I've gotta be seeing things. I've gotta be scaring myself into thinking that Jeb's out there.

I shook my head to clear it as I tiptoed back to our room. "It was nothing," I said aloud, as if to doubly reassure myself. "There was no one outside. Go to sleep."

Ha. I _wish_ I could.

* * *

><p>When I dragged my butt out of bed the next morning, I almost had myself convinced that last night in its entirety had been a dream. It seemed surreal, anyway. Dreamlike. Even waking up in the middle of the night.<p>

I decided to pay no attention to the fact that when I rolled over on my side and found a big ugly bruise sitting on my hip, it was definitely not from accidentally sleeping on top of my iPod. (Which hurts like a mofo if you have a Shuffle, by the way.) Oh, and for the record, brain? Accidentally hitting the wall with said bruised hip on the way to breakfast should definitely be avoided. Just making sure you know that, you stupid vital organ.

And speaking of breakfast, that's where I was now, surprisingly able to keep my head from falling forward into my pancakes, considering how much sleep I've been missing. But just because my face wasn't covered with syrup didn't keep me from staring straight ahead at the wall while I mechanically took bites, wishing I could sleep sans nightmares.

"…And then we can head to the mall and hopefully not get mauled by crazy shoppers." Chris's loud voice dove into my subconscious and dragged me out by the feet, forcing me to pay attention at the mention of the word 'mall'. "Who's up for it?"

Um. The mall? The freaking day before _Christmas Eve?_ What insanity is this?

I nudged my black-haired Information Database For When Max Isn't Paying Attention in the ribs. "What's going on?"

Fang leaned close so I could hear as the chatter around us carried on, saying, "Some sort of Secret Santa thing the adults thought of about five minutes ago." He grimaced. "It involves shopping."

"And they couldn't have thought of this two weeks ago?"

He shrugged. "Their planning sucks."

I chewed my food more slowly now and contemplated how best not to get trampled by last-minute shoppers. Let's see- hide behind a kiosk the whole time, use Iggy as a shield to deflect the masses, worm my way out of this somehow... decisions, decisions. But for that last one, I need a valid excuse. Or a made-up, seemingly valid excuse. As they say- okay, so maybe they don't- lying is a Max's best friend.

Back in the room, I stepped out of the bathroom after I was done changing, still tugging the hem of my shirt down. I was lucky to have nabbed some time before Ella and Nudge stole it to do their hair- four girls that all need to get dressed and ready plus only one room to do so in equals a very short time to do it.

As Angel fixed the laces on her abnormally small tennis shoes (seriously, the kid is small for her age), she looked up at me. "Max? Who was that outside the window last night?"

I stopped dead in my tracks.

_What?_

I thought that was a dream- that _had to be a dream. _"Angel," I responded slowly, "what do you mean, who was outside the window last night?"

She brushed back her blonde ringlets and looked confused. "I woke up last night and I was really thirsty, and then you came in and said there was someone outside the window but you were just imagining it. And- I got up to get water from the bathroom tap before that and I saw someone, too."

My stomach churned. So, yeah, I wasn't crazy- that was the good news- but the bad news? Somebody had been only separated from me by a wall last night, close enough to get inside and hurt the only people I cared about in the world. _Not_ good, huh?

And even thought nothing had happened to anyone, I'd rather go with the "Max is crazy" option than the 'holy crap, that was real' thing. Because this meant that somebody was watching me- watching us. A thought sprang up on my head; this and Halloween- they could be connected…

Or I could just be a paranoid wacko.

I sat on my heels next to Angel. I was alive, I was breathing, and I wasn't going to let her imagination run wild and scare the crap out of her. Or me, for that matter. "Listen," I began. "Let's keep this between us, okay? Nothing happened, and everyone's fine. No need to worry them."

Angel nodded slowly, uneasily. "Yeah. I- I guess. I was just worried." Her big eyes looked up at mine imploringly. "But they won't come back, right?"

"I don't think so," I lied, hopefully in a convincing way. In truth, I had no idea- zip, zero, nada- but it satisfied her. She was ten. Why shouldn't it?

But as we left to go draw names out of Chris's old Yankees hat, unease still stirred in the back of my mind like a nagging thought that refused to leave.

Like I needed anything _else_ going on up there.

* * *

><p><strong>EllaPoV (HEY HEY HEY WAIT! BEFORE YOU READ THIS... okay. So, if you read after the seventh paragraph and have no idea why this is happening, advice: go back to chapter 14 and read Iggy's POV at the very end. I wrote it a while ago, so you might not remember what happened and all...but seriously...)<strong>

I tried not to slip and fall on my butt as I wiped the melting snow on my boots onto the already slippery tiles of the mall's floor. Avoid getting hit by a truck in the parking lot? Check. Get almost knocked over by a hassled-looking shopper? Check.

Find out what the hell to get for such a twisted child as Gazzy? Not quite.

I suppose I could have picked a harder name from the hat. Like Fang, for instance. I mean, what do you get for a guy that just so happens to practically never reveal his interests? Or Iggy. Because then it'd have to be perfect, and when buying for a blind guy, perfection is even harder to achieve. Especially when he's also the guy you're majorly crushing on but are too gutless to do anything about it.

"Where to first?" Iggy asked, sniffing the air. "Is that food? Oh, man. I smell food."

"No food yet," Aunt Tania chided. "I say that we split up, shop for a while, and then meet back here in an hour. Sound good?"

A chorus of 'yeah's followed this, and we scattered into groups- of course, Max and Fang went off on their own. Probably to make out or whatever the hell. No, I'm kidding. They wouldn't. Probably.

I felt Iggy tug lightly on my hand, and I noticed that he had one long finger hooked in Gazzy's belt loop- probably so he wouldn't get lost in the crowd. "Hey, Ells," he said, catching my attention above the chatter. I _love_ his nickname for me. "Let's get out of here. Maybe I can get you to tell me whose name you have." With that, he dropped me a slight wink. A slight, incredibly cute wink.

Before I could answer, Angel frowned and reached out for his hand, grasping it loosely. "But... I kind of wanted to go with you," she said unhappily. "Just me and you."

He dropped her hand. "Maybe some other time, Ange," he said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

Iggy's great and all, and he's usually oh, I don't know, not a typical senseless boy; but if there was ever a time that I felt like whacking him over the head with something heavy, it was now. Like a frying pan. Maybe he couldn't see how upset she was, but it was clear in her voice.

Gazzy placed a hand on her shoulder and threw his brother a useless but icy glare. "It's okay, Angel. You can come with me."

Jeez, who knew that Gaz could be so cold? "She can come with us. Don't be ridiculous," I told him, rolling my eyes. Taking hints wasn't one of his more developed talents. Now, making my heart race when he gives me that smile, on the other hand...

Angel gave me a winning, adorable smile and came over to stand by us. Seeming resigned to the fact that yes, Angel was coming with us, Iggy reached out to ruffle her hair. She shied away from his hand, which dropped to his side. Yep. You don't get a girl to forgive you that easily.

Gazzy shot me a look that said_ thanks_ and took off on his own. "Where do you wanna go first, Ange?" I inquired of her, looking down at her as we walked.

She pointed up to a small but extremely girly shop named "claire's"- oh yeah, we had one of these back in Mesa. "There. They have really cute stuff." **(That place makes me barf.)**

"Picked a girl, huh?" Iggy asked, apparently having swallowed any remaining guilt. That or he was just really good at hiding it.

Angel shrugged and got that inherited-from-evil-older-twin-brothers look on her face. "Maybe. Or I could be buying Justin Bieber posters to cover your side of the room with."

I high-fived her, and Iggy looked horrified. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would."

See how she goes from adorable ten-year-old to miniature she-demon? It's so endearing.

As we crossed the threshold of the store filled with girls from six years old to probably about my age, Iggy halted. "Please don't make me go in. I bet it's all pink, isn't it? Please tell me it isn't all pink. Hide me."

Angel had already disappeared into the depths of the hair accessories section (hey, was the necklace on sale for five bucks? Pull it together, Ella) so I practically had to drag Iggy in side, drawing a burst of giggles from a nearby gaggle of girls. Giggle. Gaggle. Jeez, that sounds so weird.

"Hide you? Not possible, Igs," I laughed. "You stick out like a…a…"

"A nudist at a suit convention?"

"Yeah. That." Taller then anyone else in the store and dangerously close to Snow White's complexion, he did. Even thought that was a seriously bizarre comparison.

I perused the merchandise for a while, waiting for Angel to finish up, and considered several possibilities such as what would happen if I got Gazzy a glittery pink diary with a puppy on the front, activated by the owner's voice. You know. Just wondering how hilarious it would be. And Iggy was unusually quiet for the most part, cracking next to no jokes.

That is, until he said, "Hey, Ella. You're a girl and all…"

"No, really? I had _no idea_!"

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, yeah. Since you're a girl, um, what would you buy yourself? If you were buying something?"

I rolled my eyes. "You could have just told me you needed help buying a present for a girl."

"That obvious, huh?"

"Yep. But I guess I'd get jewelry or something like that. Just… girly stuff." That's me. Ella Martinez, professional giver of help. Right.

"I found something, guys!" I turned to see Angel behind us, holding up a small white bag and a receipt. "Did you get anything?"

I shook my head. No sparkly headbands for Gazzy. However, Iggy bent down to Angel and whispered something in her ear, the tips of his ears turning slightly red. She nodded delightedly, and I raised an eyebrow. Well then. Let's keep me uninformed, shall we?

Angel looked up at me. "Mind stepping outside for a bit?" she asked sweetly.

"Um, sure?" Ookay. I retreated out of the store and strained to see in through the window. They never said I couldn't look. I saw Iggy moving around through the store, but Angel in all her shortness wasn't visible.

Two, five, ten minutes passed- they checked out. I had to quell my near-insatiable curiosity; Christmas was still two days away, and there was pretty much no chance of me finding out what is was and whom it was for before then. Seems like I can't bear being kept in the dark.

Fifteen minutes later after thy met me outside the store, I was carrying a Hot Topic bag that held a Dead Space 2 shirt for Gazzy. I hated that video game, but he loved it- some advice: if you have a family member that plays it, do not, under any circumstances, watch them play it at night. Or let them convince you to play it. Those freaking huge scary-as-hell mutated zombie things will haunt your dreams for days. (And I'm not even that big of a wimp.)

As we passed through the food court, the crowd got thicker. I felt something come in contact with my hand, and looked down- it was Iggy's long-fingered, pale one. He looked down at me with a grin. A devilishly cute grin that may or may not have made my stomach do a couple flips. "Just so I won't get lost. You mind, Ells?"

Oh, like _hell_ it was so he wouldn't get lost. We were on the outskirts of the crowd, barely running into anyone. But did I say that I minded? Nope. The opposite of that, in fact. "Um- I- no," I stammered, probably blushing a little. For once, I was a little selfishly glad he couldn't see.

I caught Angel's eyes for a split second and noticed that she was already clinging to his hand, looking a little discontented. In fact, she had been for about ten minutes.

Yeah. Like hell it was so he wouldn't get lost.

We went looking for the others since there was still almost half an hour till the rendezvous, and we finally found some of them in the Sears- oddly enough, in the hardware section next to the chainsaws. (It made me remember a certain promise made weeks ago...) Just Mom, Uncle Chris, and Fang and Max.

Max seemed to be discussing something with Mom while Fang hung back behind the former. "We don't need to stick around, do we? We're finished. Besides-" Max's next words were inaudible to me as she lowered her voice.

Iggy stuck his arm out to stop me as we approached them, just behind a stack of drills. "Wait. I want to hear this." Angel and I paused as he said, and he tilted his head to the side. "She's saying something about- about how "it's the least you can do, anyway"...? Gimme a sec." He listened for a minute longer.

"Well?"

Iggy shrugged in response to my query. "I ain't got shit."

I smacked him lightly for cussing in front of Angel, who in all honesty didn't seem to mind a bit. Guess it's not like she hadn't heard it all before. More murmurings, and after a few words with Chris, Mom took off with Max, Fang, and his car keys. We'd used Mom's car to get most of us here, but Aunt Tania and Uncle Chris had had to take their little car. Good thing that wherever they were going, they were leaving us the big car. Hel-_lo_? There's ten of us?

"What's going on? Uninformed blind guy over here."

"They're leaving," I murmured. "For where, I don't know. S'pose we'll find out sooner or later, though."

He winked and dropped his voice low so that Angel couldn't hear. "Up for a little bit of eavesdropping again, Ells?"

I grinned back. "You know it," I whispered.

I wasn't entirely sure if I minded if our next little mission involved being trapped in a one-person shower with Iggy.

* * *

><p><strong>So. Enough plot for ya? Everyone clear on the whole Iggy and Angel thing? If not, PM me. I don't bite. Much. I needed to advance that bit and not let it fall into a gaping plothole. I thank the wonderful, insanely short Annika of the Absurdly Long Eyelashes for reminding me of that and helping me but off the bad bits in this chapter. Like that one that mad me cover my face in embarrassment. <strong>

**I WANTED to put in some Faxilicious Faxy Fax, but the time has not yet come, faithful readers. I'm trying. It's kinda hard, because oh, I don't know, I'VE NEVER BEEN IN LOVE. Don't badger me.**

**Fang: Badger badger badger badger MUSHROOM MUSHROOM badger ba-**

**Me: Shut UP. I swear to god, I'm punching the next person who says that or sings that Whitney Houston song.**

**Fang I'm in luck, then, because no way am I bursting into spontaneous song. But at least I know you hate the 'badger' thing.**

**Me: You have to go to sleep sometime, you know.**

**Fang: And you have to go back to school where the shallow girls sing Whitney Houston every time you walk by.**

**Me: I hate you. So, how 'bout it, my lovely reviewers? Can I have reviews for mah birthday?**

**Fang: That was three weeks ago.**

**Me: So was the day I should have raided your bacon stash. But I was_ nice. _I'd kill you if you weren't sexy.**

**_-_Sierra**


	24. Letting Go

**You have absolutely every right to hate me- no, to despise me with a burning passion that feels as if it will consume you any second. I admit to this. Thirteen weeks and I don't even have two thousand words? Guess what- it's excuses time! Well, not so much excuses as shit I wanna get out.**

**1. OH MY HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. Diablo III comes out at midnight tonight. I can't wait to play it.**

**2. WHAT THE HELL. MY high school is only letting juniors and seniors into the art classes! WHY? I am so mad. I signed up anyway. Looks like I'll be taking Journalism instead...**

**3. English projects. 'Nuff said.**

**4. The river of creative juices that once flowed freely in my squishy brain is bone-dry.**

**5. Stupid Max is SO STUPID and I would like to kill her for being difficult to write.**

**6. I locked Fang in the closet.**

**7. I've been busy staring at a picture of Chris Evans (Captain America and also Johnny Torch) with whipped cream and cherries covering his nether regions. That is all.**

**8. 9GAG. That motherfreaking addictive website. IT RUNS IN MY VEINS.**

**I dedicate this to Annika, because I could not- absolutely positively could not- have done this without her. I'd like to thank that little brown midget for making me have an epiphany about love. It involves bus rides and legs. **

**_MaxPOV_**

MaxPOV

Someone once said "If you love someone, let them go. If they don't come back, they were never yours." The person who coined that phrase needs to be smacked upside the head. Hard.

Letting go is not as easy as it sounds. Especially when the person you have to let go of is dead and you know that if you do, they'll never come back and you'll be admitting to yourself the painful truth that you are never, ever going to see them again. Even if you know they're already gone. So is that why I was avoiding closure?

Yeah, I knew it would be good for me, that things could get better after I went through with it. But I also knew that lots of things I'd worked long and hard on pushing down and ignoring were going to surface.

And still, I was going to visit Mom's grave.

"You'll be safe, right?" Dr M asked the question for the millionth time, leaning out the car window to speak to Fang and I, both of us ankle-deep in pale snow. "Call me if there's any trouble, and don't talk to anyone who looks str—"

"Dr M?" Fang interrupted, thank _God._

"Yes?"

"We're not four years old. We'll be fine."

She smiled sheepishly. "I guess I'm just worried about sending you off alone after the trick-or-treating incident."

"It's broad daylight this time," I pointed out. "Fang and I can take care of ourselves, and this is a much smaller town than Mesa." Yep, but apparently that just couldn't keep away the crazy men. Hell, maybe Aspen just breeds wackos. Like Jeb. And, well, me. It's not that we didn't appreciate Dr M's mother-henning– at least she wasn't wrapping us in bubble wrap and the like (or worse, coming with us)– it was just that after she reiterated it about a fajillion times, it tended to get a little annoying.

"True," she agreed, "but stay out of trouble. You both are absolute magnets for it."

"Don't sweat it. We'll be back in half an hour or less," Fang answered her. It was Christmas Eve... fittingly enough, cheesily enough... in that long and dragging-on period between afternoon and evening, where the sun was up and shining but it seemed like it shouldn't be. I wished it wasn't, because honestly, I just really wanted this day to end.

"All right," Dr M said finally, although in her eyes it looked like she was still debating it. "See you then." She rolled up the car window and pulled away from the curb, the engine emitting a low purr.

"You're sure?" Fang asked quietly when she was out of sight.

"Of course I'm sure. If I wasn't, too late now." That first sentence? Lie number four of the day. "Let's go." I felt a little thrill run through me– something beyond excitement, perhaps fear. It would explain the fifty-seven tight knots that tied up my stomach as we passed the low stone wall through the thick layer of snow. It seemed like now that I was so close, I didn't know whether I really wanted to see after all... but no. I pushed down the doubt and tension and kept going past row after row of snow-topped tombstones protruding from an untouched blanket of pale white, feeling pulled forward.

People had been here just before the latest snowfall last night, it seemed, judging by the flowers in front of headstones. My eyes scanned each one, a rush of anticipation greeting me with every name I read, but none of them were her. Not this, not the next, onto the following row after this one... We waded deeper and deeper into the graveyard, Fang at my heels, until I caught sight of a familiar cluster of leafless trees. A gray marble headstone sat in its place just next to them. I halted not three feet away from it, a tightness in my stomach and throat.

"She's here... right here."

I said it with the sensation that something was pressing down on my chest, and took a few slow steps towards it. The sun was so bright that there was no need to get close to the stone to read the words etched into it. My eyes traveled over and over them, like I thought I would never get a chance to see them again, and I read them aloud.

"Roslynn Batchelder, born April 26, 1970... Died June 3, 2005." The weight on my heart and lungs spread to my throat, forming a lump there. Fang seemed to sense my distress and took my hand, squeezing it tightly and not saying a word. For a moment I couldn't speak, struggling for words and hoping to God that my voice wouldn't waver.

"It's been a while, huh?" I finally said, swallowing hard. "I couldn't visit before this, and I... just came... to say goodbye."

It was time to stop holding on.

It was time to stop trying to clutch the bits and pieces, the flotsam and jetsam. No more remembering the song about the blackbird she sang to me, her ardent love for long skirts and clothes from the sixties, how she always burned the toast. I'd stop trying to recreate her scent in my mind, how she always smelled like the French vanilla coffee beans she loved. No more letting memories of her making Ari and I hot chocolate when we came in from a competitive snowball fight creep up on me during the night. And most of all, nothing about the broken glass near the crash reflecting red and blue from the ambulance lights, nothing about the oxygen mask she wore in the hospital or the blood-soaked bandages or the unsteady beep of her heart monitor...

Hot tears were running over the hand I kept pressed over my mouth, and I wrapped an arm around myself to keep my chest from heaving, breaking that hand's contact with Fang's. The anguish had spilled over, and my shoulders shook in silence. I shut my eyes tightly as if to stop the tears from coming out, but I was powerless to stop it. I didn't want to. She wouldn't want this, my mother- she was a free spirit; she always let go of things, didn't dwell on them, didn't let them get under her skin. It was something she always told me to do, to not let anything live rent-free in my brain. I should've been following that advice all along.

I felt Fang put his arm around my shoulders and pull me into him in the slightest motion, giving me all the silent comfort he could. He understood the need to stop holding on by a thread, to just let go. It felt like he was reminding me that I wasn't alone– I was never alone as long as he was around– and I didn't have to deal with all of this by myself.

I sank back into his shoulder, surrendering, giving in to the stress I'd been through in three short days and not caring anymore if my armor cracked more than it should in front of him. But Fang was smart enough not to intervene more than giving a quiet little "It's okay," and putting one arm around me. He was smart enough not to do the cliché wipe-away-the-tears thing and to let the silence be, to let me get it out of my system and work it out for myself.

And it was draining, the heaviness– like sand out of a heavy canvas bag. With each gust of frigid wind I was inhaling deep, sharp breaths of the air, trying to steady myself. My eyes were still wet and felt frozen, but the rest of me was warm. Especially the hand Fang had wrapped in his, though I was still unable to even turn around and glance at his expression, to even say thanks, but it was finished. Over. The weight on my chest was gone. I'd regained a little more control. I could _breathe._

"And I'm not coming back," I said in a voice that shook and yet was stronger, looking anywhere but the face of my best friend or my mother's name, "and neither are you. So I have to let go now– for good. I have to move on and not wish you were still around, because it kills me to do that." I pressed my lips tightly together. I should have brought something for her. This was such a finality, and end to something I'd been harboring in a locked-away part of my heart, and I hadn't even thought to bring her flowers.

All the plants in the graveyard were dead. The snow in front of her grave was blank, of course. Who else but me would even think to—?And that was when something very small and triangular sticking out of the snow caught my eye. I knelt down without a word, pinching the tiny corner of whatever it was, and drew it out with great cautiousness.

It was a photograph.

More importantly, a photograph_ of my mother._

I drank in the sight of it wordlessly, still kneeling and feeling the cold snow seeping into my jeans. The picture was slightly marred from being in the snow, but still recognizable. My breath caught at her smile– she sat in front of a window, sunlight silhouetting her, laughing and waving at the camera to go away. "This is her," I whispered to Fang like I couldn't believe it. "This was taken at my old house, in my room."

"But who put it here?" Fang's question was the first thing he'd said since we passed the gate.

"I... I don't know." I turned it over with freezing fingers, and on the back, there were initials; blurry, but I could make out an a T. "It has a T on it..." I didn't know anyone with those initials. No one at all, not anymore. But was it possible that—? No. No, it wasn't. I got up slowly, clutching the picture like I though it would fly away if I relinquished my grip on it.

After all, it was the only one I had of her.

As soon as I stood, it seemed like I couldn't stand to be there another moment. With a small wave and one look back to my mother's grave, I put my arm around Fang's shoulders and he placed his gently around my waist. We left in a comfortable silence, just as the sun began to sink behind the mountains.

**So... how'd I do? Personally, I hate it. Not fishing for praise here. I really want to know if you disliked it with the same aforementioned passion. Please tell me. I WANT CON-CRIT. Honestly, I love love love your guys's reviews so much, and I appreciate you all! But sometimes a little more input on your thoughts would be just so unequivocally fabulous. Tell me, what do you think about what happened, what do you think about what should happen- things like that. **

**If you do, I promise I'll update faster! Oh yeah, _now_ I get your attention. But really, it helps so much.**

**Love it, like it, take it down and print it and proceed to burn it while cackling madly? :D Lemme know.**

**OHMYGOD A WEEK OF SCHOOL LEFT.**

**-Sierra**

**"Sorry I'm not made sugar- am I not sweet enough for you? Is that why you always avoid me? I must be _such_ an inconvenience to you!" Someone tell me that they love Adventure Time as much as I do.**


	25. Of Love and Internal Wars

**PROMETHEUS.**

**PLEASE TELL ME THAT SOME OF YOU HAVE SEEN THAT ABSOLUTELY **_**BEAUTIFUL**_** MOVIE.**

**It's just so amazing and terrifying at the same time. As a huge fan of the_ ALIEN_ trilogy, I was in awe. (Resurrection doesn't... _doesn't_ count. Neither does AvP.)**

**"Prometheus, are you seeing this?"**

Fang's POV

I have officially decided that I am part of an extremely dysfunctional, unconventional family.

_Extremely_.

For one thing, we kids have got our respective pasts that we won't ever really forget and that make us a little more walled up, but that is a whole other story told in fragments that we really haven't put together yet. This is mostly the dysfunctional part. They both tie together in a way, but the other part, the unconventional part, is that our dynamics and the way we do things is just abnormal and generally strange. Not to mention untraditional.

And sometimes (don't tell anyone because I will kill you I swear to god) I like that. I like it a lot.

Especially times like right now.

The living room of Chris and Tania's tiny house has mountains of wrapping paper all over it and foil candy wrappers scattered around the pillows and it's pretty much a Christmas-colored pigsty, but that's completely okay with me because I'm a _guy_, and besides that it's Christmas Eve. And, surprise surprise, who woulda thought, I'm happy. There aren't a lot of times when I genuinely am, but this is one of them- partly because I don't have to worry about Max tonight because she's having good time too and not brooding- and I'm smiling a little and everything is blurring slightly because of wayyyy too much hot chocolate. I've decided that we're dysfunctional because generally people don't open presents on Christmas Eve, but _whattheheck_ none of us even care because we wanna do Secret Santa _right now_ and that includes the adults, because we got them all hyped up about it. Nudge was practically bouncing up and down. (Okay, maybe not practically, she was actually doing that, but whatever.) The only thing about the lack of planning that was kinda inconvenient is that Max was too lazy to wrap Iggy's present and it wasn't ready, so she stuffed it in some newspaper and stuck a bow on the top. It's not like he'll care anyway because he's blind, and in her words, "I do not owe Jeff Griffiths a thing, thank you very much."

And thus it began.

If any of us had expected all of the gifts to be completely serious they should have expected less of said dysfunctional family because the first gift opened was to Gazzy, and it was a mustache. Well, actually several mustaches in a fake mustache kit. (Somewhere deep in my heart where a dorky seven-year-old survived, I wanted one of those very badly so I could fiddle with it and look like a villain in a vaudeville.) It had the whole deal, pencil and handlebar and the one with the little curls at the end none of us knew the name of, and of course that was the one Gazzy put on first. Somehow he ended up with both a Dead Space 2 t-shirt _and_ the mustache kit, because it's Gazzy and a 'stache and not even I could resist putting the two together. Then there was Nudge's gift of some department store gift card because she really really loved to shop there (I can't recall the name, because hello, I'm a manly man?)

And then Iggy opened his gift that I happened to know was from Max that was actually not a prank, which would have surprised everyone if they had known she was the giver, but telling who gave what went against the point. It was a shirt from EpicMealTime she'd picked up at Hot Topic that said Bacon Strips & Bacon Strips & Bacon Strips over and over again, and once someone told him what the words said he immediately shrugged it on over the long-sleeve shirt he was already wearing. Max seemed to deduce that he liked it, and I heard her firmly resolving under her breath never ever ever to tell anyone _ever_ that she had done Iggy a kindness. (She'd even sent me away when she picked out the gift, but I couldn't curb my curiosity and I snuck a look.) Ella got a butterfly necklace made out of some bronze-looking metal that I grudgingly admitted was nice-looking. She gushed over it for a while and put it on while Iggy looked at the ceiling with a pink tinge to the tips of his ears, and I knew who'd drawn Ella's name out of that Yankees hat. Max flashed a little rare smile around when she pulled a new pair of expensive-looking earbuds from a nest of tissue paper in a gift bag. Angel got the ridiculously glittery new headband Nudge had helped me pick out for her in my state of manly helplessness, and I got a navy blue sweatshirt that I smiled down quietly at, because everyone knows that I seriously do not wear anything but black so that was probably a joke on me- but all my other sweatshirts were ruined or ripped so I would wear it anyway. Dammit. Then came Chris and Tania's fancy new wine bottle opener and Dr. M's Beatles CD which, as Max reported to me later, utterly shocked my best friend/thing/_what the hell is she to me anyway/_whatever because quote-unquote "Obviously since we're from different ends of the spectrum we're not logically allowed to have anything in common and _oh my God_ Ella's mom does normal stuff like listen to music?" I found it amusing, because I was probably going to end up downloading the songs on that CD to my iPod. The Beatles are classic.

After a while the noise started dying down, and people trickled from the room, which left a few of us kids to clean up the wrapping paper, various plastic bits, and miscellaneous trash all thrown into a Christmassy hoopla thing. It took about, I don't know, _three freaking hours_ to clean up our unconventional family's mess. By then it was around midnight, but teenagers have this remarkable talent for staying up late.

Sure, we were all a little bit tired, but only just coming down from sugar highs; or Ella, at least, had crashed in the juncture between the TV and the couch in a ball, and Max was showing signs of drifting off. Nudge, however, was very awake as always and very ready to bugger Max until she gave in to her demands.

"But Maaaax, I hafta look for my iPod. I dropped it in that chair," Nudge pleaded, clasping her hands and putting on the Disney-doe-eyed expression.

"I'm too American to get up," Max countered lazily with a sleepy yawn. "I don't wanna. And I'm tired."

"It'll only take a little biiiiiittttt..."

"Nah."

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxx-"

"Fine! Just stop that god-awful Maaaxing." Max clambered out of the chair and threw her hands dramatically up in the air with an indignant expression. At least she was in a fairly good mood, if not slightly cranky after a sugar and caffeine overdose and very, very tired.

She dropped the theatrics (well, mostly) and somewhat slid over to the couch, and without ceremony, threw herself down onto it with a whumpf, her head flopping onto my stomach which was basically parallel with the seat cushion due to my terrible posture. It pretty much looked like I had no spine, the way I was sitting. I stopped fiddling with the wads of tissue paper Gazzy had been throwing at me for the last five minutes and raised an eyebrow at her. "Yo, that's my stomach you're smashing your skull into. Watch it."

"Shove it. 'S my skull, I do what I want with it." Her tangled hair fanned out over my jeans a little, and she threw an arm over her face, yawning. I didn't see the pillow-like appeal of my abdomen, really. It was mostly a position born of familiarity. And that same familiarity bred her snappy comebacks.

Another good sign that she wasn't brooding about Aspen: the banter. We kept up an easy rapport, she laughed a little, I kept one eye on her mood. Not that Max needed my babysitting or my watch or whatever, but I just wanted to make sure that she was okay.

But the only problem with our position was that she was all splayed out like a Max-shaped bunch of spaghetti noodles, and her head was basically nestled into my stomach while her other arm was thrown across my, uh, hips. And the thing is, Max was a girl, and I wasn't really sure when that happened.

Yeah, I had always known that she was female, but there's a difference between girl and _girl_ when it comes to her. It was a fact that stood off to the side and didn't bother me. The sky was blue, the grass was green, bacon was delicious and Max was a girl. And then, all of a sudden, everything was different.

It seemed like a few weeks ago, just after Thanksgiving. She was hanging upside-down on the couch and letting the blood rush to her head, because there was absolutely no question about the fact that she was bored out of her freaking mind. And then, much to my interest and weirdly perverted and guilty feeling, her shirt had ridden up a little. Actually, more than a little. Enough to expose certain attractive parts of her, which felt _so_ wrong for me to be looking at, but as a teenaged guy I couldn't help it. At least she yanked it back up as soon as she noticed. I know I'm a hypocrite for this, but keep your mind out of the gutter- it only went to just above her ribcage. Because for a surprisingly small and lithe person, Max has quite large ribs when she's bent like that, so they acted as a block that kept her shirt up which was an _impossibly_ good thing. And I was really really _really_ trying hard not to think about her smooth flat stomach or her hips- especially not her hips, since as sort of a friend of some gender or another she was not allowed to have hips, and definitely not hips that looked as good as those. Because it made me realize that my best friend was not only a girl but a _girl_- a girl who most definitely had hips, and likely thighs, and probably boobs if I thought about it hard enough but I was not so jacked up that I would let my mind wander that far. (I'd never been more glad that Max doesn't ever wear tight clothing.)

So I fled the room and tried not to think about Max or Max's being a girl or girls in general.

Freakin' girls.

I'm totally smooth with the babes. Psh, you know it. But Max isn't a babe, nor is she ever likely to be such; because she's, y'know, _her_, and that's all there is to it. But now, in addition to being Max, she is also _a_ _girl, w_hich is a problem. And since she has been recognized as having such gender for a few weeks, that gave me time to develop certain feelings- awkward feelings that I would like to banish from existence. So by the time she came to me on that day when she flipped her lid at Brigid, morose about going to Aspen and looking pretty lost on what to do with her messy wad of emotions, I couldn't resist it. I may have self control in many areas, my specialty being facial expressions, but this was Max this time, Max the girl that I was suddenly attracted to, and I couldn't do much less than lean over and kiss her on the forehead. I was at that point wishing that it had been somewhere a little lower on the face, but that was crazy and would likely get me killed, or worse.

So I restrained myself.

_Again._

And now she was sprawled all over me.

I would like to be able to say again in italics, but I can't.

And all of this was making me want to flee the room.

AGAIN.

Although I think she was sleeping, so that was probably not happening any time soon. So I sat there, all the while contemplating and puzzling over the reason why this was happening to me and twisting tissue paper around and around in my hands. This swirling, roiling, bubbling feeling in my stomach, the whole entire thing about Max being so strangely female all of a sudden, even though it's not all about the physical aspect of it which freaks me out a little more, and what is probably a tiny little maybe possibly crush on her from me. Or, you know, maybe not a crush.

Probably a whopping infatuation that I will regret verily at some time in the near future.

But having a crush on Max was the weirdest of weird thoughts, somehow even weirder than any thoughts regarding the lack-of-hips-and-stomach-coverage incident, although maybe beaten by the "whopping infatuation" part, because that's even more severe.

So if it was that weird, logically it should not be allowed to exist. But it does, which sucks.

And in addition to that, she is still slouched against me and one of her hands just ghosted a little over my shirt when she moved in her sleep.

I began to concentrate very, _very_ hard on that ball of tissue paper.

I repeat: Freakin' _girls_.

* * *

><p><strong>Third Person POV <strong>

"WAKE UP, SUCKERS! IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

"Shut _up_," came a groan from across the room, vaguely around the couch area.

"Dude, turn off the lights. I can't smell the music," slurred another voice.

"Whut," Fang muttered, sitting up as rubbing his head. There was this incredibly loud noise coming from something small and annoying at the foot of the stairs. Wait, he was in the basement? Last he could recall, he'd fallen asleep with Max on the couch upstairs.

Whoever the hell had moved him was in some deep shit for interrupting that.

"Come on! There's stuff under the tree! You know, presents!" Angel said whilst bouncing on the balls of her feet. So she was the intruder._Ten-year-olds._

"Angel, _whatthefuck_ are you doing down here at seven in the morning?" Iggy stumbled up off the floor and pushed his hair out of his face. "It's like... The middle of the night. Go sleep."

"No it's not! It's Christmas Day, stupid," she scoffed. "I'll jack your presents if you don't make it up in time." Rubbing the crust out of his eyes, Fang observed that she was most definitely not innocent in any way. _Oh my god, why are my legs so freaking cold?_

"I dun care 'bout presents," Gazzy groaned, his head buried in the couch cushions. "Leave me 'lone."

"Fine, fatty," Angel said playfully, poking out her tongue at him. "No whipped cream for you. Fang, where are your pants?"

"I have no idea," he said hazily. "Leave."

The blonde kid rolled her eyes and danced back up the stairs. "Iggy, where the hell are my pants? Why am I down here?" Fang dragged a hand over his face and sighed. No mornings were normal. Ever.

"We took your pants last night in your sleep," Gaz said tiredly, nearly falling off the couch while he pulled a sweatshirt over his head. "Jesus, it's cold down here."

"Yeah,_ I know_. Because all I have on is boxers, and I can't feel my legs." Cue Fang's famous glare.

"Your pants at in the freezer upstairs," Iggy said with a smirk, already dressed and finger-combing his messy mop of strawberry blonde hair.

"Fuck you."

"Gladly. I'll get the Vaseline."

Fang shivered at the thought and the cold combined and rubbed his freezing legs. Chris and Tania's fluffy orange cat, Jones, twisted around them with a meow, and he rubbed the cat's ears absentmindedly." Why am I down here? I don't sleep walk."

"We saved your ass from the wrath of women last night. Imagine how Max would feel waking up to being all warm and cozy against your chest. She loves to snuggle, I'm sure. You know, Fang, you make a great spoon," Gazzy said lightly.

"Oh, and you can't forget Dr. Martinez," Iggy snickered. "Let's watch her react to that."

"I could have taken care of it."

"Ah ah ah, you were out cold. Just being a bro." Gazzy shrugged. "Temperamental chicks are bad news. So in payment for our good deed, we froze your pants after we woke you up and made you walk down here."

Fang was going through his bag with narrow eyes. "Those are my only pair of jeans I brought, dipshits."

"You're welcome. Walk around in just boxers all morning, Max oughta like that. Since she didn't kill you this morning for cuddling with her."

"We weren't cuddling, for the love of God, and I have other pants." Yeah, Fang is definitely not a morning person some days. He looked flatly at the pair of black flannel pajama pants that were the only other thing he'd brought, since he's a guy and guys don't need seven pairs of pants like Nudge does. Guess it would be these until his jeans dried out. They were flimsy and not built to withstand cold, so no going outside today, _apparently_.

He slipped into them and in passing the twins up the stairs uttered a low and grudging, "Thanks." What they said was probably true, especially the part about Dr. Martinez, because she would go out back and get a shovel or something and _hand it to Max _who would beat him mercilessly with it, so at least Fang had had the good grace not to like Ella because then it would be a chainsaw. He had to hand it to Iggy and the Gasman- they played well.

And also froze his pants, for which they would pay dearly later.

Nobody fucks with Fang's pants.

* * *

><p>"Seriously, what is her deal?" Nudge muttered, tapping away at Chris's laptop. "She's like me. All hyper and wacky."<p>

"You're pretty dang calm, if I do say so myself," Gazzy said dryly. "Three sentences in one go. A new minimum."

"I'm concentrating and I'm tired, y'know? Give me an hour to get up to full speed. She's just crazy. I know it's Christmas and she's ten, but this is ridiculous." Angel had been so excited about the whole Christmas shebang that she'd been bouncing off the walls for at least three hours since she woke everybody up at six. Nudge, however, had absolutely refused not to get her sleep, and crawled out of her sleeping bag at ten.

"Hey, in her defense, the best Christmas present she ever got was a pack of bendy straws from our mom. She deserves some liberty," Gazzy replied with a shrug. "What are you doing on that, anyway?"

"Hacking," she said shortly. "Got bored, and I've had this idea for like, a month. I just needed the right computer."

"What's wrong with the ones at home?" Ella said, dropping down on the other side of Nudge. "They're not bad."

Nudge broke her focus for a second to give Ella a blank look. "You don't know anything about computers, do you?"

"Not at all."

"The Macs at home are some of the best around, but they've got blocks on them and they can't run some programs that PC's can, y'know? Like, Macs are way better as far as viruses and running time and resolution go, but-"

"Nudge, for once your rambling is informative, but I have no idea what it means," Gazzy said with a sheepish smile, and Ella nodded vigorously in agreement. "I grew up on electrical wire and batteries, not hard drives and motherboards."

"Oh. Right." Nudge shrugged awkwardly and returned her attention to the laptop. A loading bar popped up on the screen and began to make quick progress, the text underneath it reading _Files Downloading_. She bit her lip anxiously and tapped her foot in impatience at the loading time. "Come on, come on..."

"What are you hacking?" Ella queried suspiciously. "We're not going to get tracked down by the FBI, are we?"

Nudge snorted. "Oh, Ella, you're so bad with tech. I've covered my tracks, and besides, this was an easy job. I was just looking for... Some people."

"Like who?"

"Like, people." The download finished and a folder appeared on the desktop. Nudge tilted the screen away from Gazzy and Ella and began transferring it to her email account. "That exist. And have faces and stuff."

Ella poked her friend in the side. "You can tell me, Nudge."

Nudge's jaw set slightly. "Relatives."

"Why?"

"Gaz, did you ever wonder why if you had extended family they didn't take you in instead of giving you to foster parents? I wonder that like, all the time. It really bugs me, you know? I know my mom had sisters who had families, but I've never seen them. Why should I have been in the system for a few years if they were out there?"

The Gasman nodded slowly. "I see where you're coming from. I hate all my relatives and half of them are hicks down South or dead, so I can't relate, but I can dig it."

Ella's brow furrowed slightly. She never really had to think about stuff like this, as her mom was alive and well. Sure, it left her out of the conversation a little, but that was a small price to pay for living parents and a good life. It didn't bother her all that much. "Did you find anything?"

Nudge shook her head. "I haven't read them over yet, I'll do that when I get home. I just found a database like the world's biggest online secure phone book and used some keywords to narrow it down. I'm kinda hoping I'll find someone..."

"I would too," Ella said with a smile. "But hey, if you don't, you've always got us."

"Yeah. It's just good to have a backup plan, or like, another choice. Just in case." Nudge muttered something under her breath about giving some people some serious calls and shut the laptop. "Well, that was fun," she said more brightly now. Nudge certainly had her moments.

"Yo, Ella! Can you go find Jonesy?" yelled Chris from the kitchen. "He needs lunch, and I gotta feed him before we open presents. He should be out hiding in the shed." The fluffy orange cat for some reason always wanted to go outside _in freezing weather_ for whatever reason.

"Sure, lemme grab my coat." Ella stood, stretched, and left to grab her shoes and rather fluffy winter coat. Angel, of course, immediately gasped and got huge-eyed at Chris's words, and everyone in the room prepared for hyper ten-year-old mode.

Iggy winced and stood as well. "Yeah, I think I'll go with. Not gonna stick around for your high, kiddo." He ruffled Angel's hair, grabbed a jacket, and followed Ella out the back door.

"Coming along?" Ella asked lightly as she stepped into the snow on the back porch. "It's too cold for just a jacket."

"I'm built for cold, Ells. Just look at me in my skinny white glory- I blend with the snow. You know that's why I won the snowball fight yesterday, right?"

"Sure, not like you were using your super-sharp hearing or anything or cheating and hiding the whole time," she said with playful sarcasm, tracking through the ankle-deep layer of snow to the shabby garden shed. "It's just your white people skills."

"Don't forget about my white people dancing skills."

"Right. Here, kitty kitty," Ella called into the shed. "C'mon, Jonesy, come get your food..." She peered around the cluttered shed, past shelves and tools and flowerpots, searching for the stupid orange fluffball.

Iggy made clicking noises with his tongue. "Jones, you stupid fat cat, come and get it." He winced as he knocked his head against a metal shelf, accidentally causing a pair of long and rather rusty hedge clippers to clatter to the concrete floor. "Oops?"

"S'okay," she told him just as there was a loud meow from the corner of the shed. "Wait, I hear him! Here, Jonesy, get your noms..." she clacked her fingers against the side of the bowl, attempting to draw him out.

Ig raised a finger to his lips and a hand to his ear, cupping it and cocking his head to the side, listening hard. "Stay here." He began slowly moving towards the sound of the meow, carefully feeling his way around his surroundings.

Ella watched for a moment, shivering in the chilly air, and ran her fingertips over frost on the small, cracked windowpane next to her. With her fingernail, she began to carve a small heart into the frost- at least Iggy would never see the initials she etched into it, a tall and slightly lopsided I plus an E-

"Gotcha!"

There was a clatter and a crash as Iggy landed with a huff on a pile of cardboard boxes, holding a wriggling and hissing swath of marmalade-colored fur. "Stupid- cat- _stay still_!" He struggled over to the door, tripping over his own feet while the cat flailed in his arms. "Aw, _shi_-"

Ella smothered a giggle as Jones positively _flew_ out of Iggy's hands and towards the open door, yowling. "That was smooth."

He cast her the scowl-smile he had become extraordinarily good at. "Oh, just help me pick this up."

For a few minutes they cleaned up the mess they (well, mostly Iggy) had made- picking up tools, piling boxes, righting the shelf Iggy had managed to knock over. With an old broom, Ella swept up the spilled cat food and dumped it in the trash. And just as Iggy was putting the very last flowerpot in its rightful place, she quickly turned around to rub out the heart scratched into the frost, lest someone should come out here again and see it.

So in her concentration, she didn't notice that her blind companion had finished cleaning.

Ella turned, ready to go, and took two steps right into Iggy's chest. Her cheeks turned pinker than the cold had already made them.

"Sorry." She looked down, her breath turning to fog in the frigid air. It almost felt like he could see the blush on her face, like he knew how fast her heart was beating, how she inhaled his scent like the crust of freshly baked bread-

"Ella?" Iggy's hand tentatively reached out, his long fingers, just brushing her cheekbones.

"Yeah?" she breathed out, her mouth dry.

Iggy pointed a finger towards the ceiling, the hand on her cheek sliding under her chin to cup it. "Imaginary mistletoe," he whispered, leaned down, and kissed her.

**HAVE YOUR ONE-SIDED FAX. TAKE IT ALL.**

**With a side dish of Eggy. Well, not really a side dish. WAS IT CHEESY? I've had that planned for months. I mean, I just thought it was cute... or whatever... **

**My brain is completely wired to Adventure Time. I can't draw anything but it. Maybe a fic soon? Oops, I didn't say that out loud. WINK WINK.**

****("It's Christmas, Captain, I want to open my presents." *lifts giant alien head* OH DR. SHAW, YOU DOG)****

**-Sierra**

**hahahahaha cliffhanger _what now bitches_**


	26. A Knife In The Dark

**Auuuugh! Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, and tumblr have eaten my life. Like a steak. Just nommed it right up. **

**Speaking of Avatar, which I just finished recently- any fellow Zutarians out there? I must go, my people need me! One of these days a Zutara fanfic might just pop in here outta nowhere. Those sneaky devils.**

**Bleh, school. So this chap you get more a little more adorable Fang-crushing-so-hard-on-Max-he-falls-over-I-MEAN-WHAT. **

**Fang: I DO NOT "CRUSH."**

**Me: So you fall hopelessly in love and conceal your passionate desire?**

**Fang: No, I- uh- hide my affection in a ****_manly way._**

**Me: Your frikkin' ego, man.**

**Fang's Ego: I'm manly, sooooo manly.**

Fang's POV

I shivered a little and lugged a suitcase out of the back of the car alongside Gazzy. It was night, very chilly, and two days into the new year. We were home. Er... home, the place that isn't Aspen (hooray?), where Max is slightly less crazy. More of a good crazy. Like hurdling-over-the-fence-while-carrying-a-suitcase-in-pitch-black-darkness crazy.

Nudge was sort of stumbling around being tired and sleepwalking on the way to the door, barely dragging the suitcase she carried. I steered her in the direction of the porch with my free hand. "Eh... Nudge... watch the cactus..." Her head started to nod and she threw around arm around my neck, allowing me to drag her up the steps. Why do I always end up carrying the tired females of this house? It's about midnight and we've been driving in a cramped car for five hours, and just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I'm not exhausted like everyone else. Ella sleepily fished out the house key from its hiding place and unlocked the door, closely followed by Iggy, Gazzy, and I with my Nudge baggage.

" 'S dark in here," Gazzy mumbled. "Can't see a thing."

"Oh no, _how horrible_," Iggy shot back grumpily.

"Sorry."

_Crunch._

"What was that?"

"I... stepped on something?" Ella said in a sleepy but surprised voice. "Lemme get the light..."

It was still too dark to make out anything, so I very carefully removed the Nudge clinging to my shoulder and set her down slowly on the ground. There was a crinkling sound when she touched down. Huh?

_Craackkkk._

_"_Where're these noises coming from?"

Ella let out a little squeak and we could hear her hit the side of the couch. "Ow! I slipped on something!"

"But the floor's carpeted," Iggy said as he took a step forward and there was the sound of breaking glass. "Okay. Seriously. Someone hit the lights and tell me what's going on."

The room suddenly flooded with light. Ella was clutching the edge of the couch for support, trying not to slip again, and had managed to flip the light switch next to it. She straightened up, looked around, and let slip the words we were all thinking:

"Oh, holy _shit_."

"Uh. We might have to call the police. Or something," Gazzy suggested with false blitheness.

"How about call the Department of Tell Iggy What In The Hell Is Going On Because _He's Blind If You'd All Like To Conveniently Remember That_," Iggy expostulated loudly, waving a hand rapidly over his eyes.

Nudge propped herself up on her elbow and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Think we got robbed, guys," she mumbled.

Max bounded up to the door, shouldering two bags. Her sleep cycle has to be way out of wack or something because it's too late for her to have this much energy. "Hey guys, what's all the commotion abou-" She stopped dead just inside the doorway and let out a low, long whistle. _"Whoa."_

The place was freakin' trashed.

Everything just looked..._ taken apart._ Pages ripped out of books littered the floor. The drawers had been taken out of the desk in the corner and the contents dumped on the carpet. What Ella had slid on were the plastic sleeves torn out of photo albums, the pictures scattered. Things on various bookshelves were pulled out. The computer was missing…

"Ella," said Dr. Martinez, appearing in the door behind Max and carrying Angel. Her usual calm, in charge demeanor was teetering on the edge of a knife. "Please turn on the lights and grab me the phone."

As Ella started to move towards the kitchen counter where the phone should be, something she walked past got my attention: a perfect circular clearing in the debris, centerpieced by a something small and rectangular with a shiny surface. A picture? I started to pick through the rubbish, making my way towards it.

"Watch the broken glass," Dr M cautioned. The figure on the picture was starting to get clearer. A few more steps, and I was there. I bent down to pick it up, swallowing hard when I recognized it. It was my last picture of Maya, the one I kept stored away- and there was a red X drawn over her face in Sharpie.

"Yo Fang, whatcha got there?" Max asked from the door, helping Nudge up and throwing their luggage in a pile.

My first curled around the photograph, crumpling it. "Nothing, just looking. I'll check upstairs." Max would follow me there, she'd know something was wrong… I took the steps two at a time, as quick as I could. Downstairs I could hear Dr. Martinez connecting with the 911 operator. When I got to the top, Max was halfway up, right behind me. All the bedroom doors were closed just the way we left it.

All except mine, flung wide open.

My insides seemed to coil up and tighten like a snake when I looked inside. It was like a miniature version of the living room. Ransacked. I made for the closet, snatching up the tattered black backpack I'd brought from the foster agency that ha nothing in it. No other half of the picture in my hand. It was just Maya in that photograph now, my arm coming in from the side around her shoulder. And it wasn't ripped- it was cut cleanly. Someone took the photo out of the old empty wallet I kept it in and cut me out of it. No one knew about it, I kept it in the bag deep in my closet, it was the last one I had of us… and if the person who broke in and did all this was the person I thought he was, I was in some _really deep _trouble.

"They got here too?"

And there was Max, predictably. "Yeah." I dropped the bag, shoved the crumpled photo deep in my pocket, and went past her out the door. "Help me check the other rooms."

Iggy and Gazzy's was right across from mine, so we looked in there first. When we opened the door there was a god-awful stench like rotting food, dirty clothes, and sulfur- normal for them, and aside from their usual terrible mess, nothing seemed outta place. Ella's was neat as usual, and Max's clutter remained untouched. Nudge and Angel's were fine. With every room we checked, my suspicion got stronger.

As we closed the last door, Max turned to me. "Okay. Now tell me what's wrong."

She's good. I'd had my neutral, impervious mask on the whole time to boot, and still she figured something was up. I pulled the photo out again and unwrinkled it. "Look."

She took it from me, looking it over a couple times, and said, "So that's Maya, huh?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"And… I don't wanna be rude or anything, but what does this have to do with the break-in, and why's there an X?"

"There's another half. I wasn't taken out of it by accident, and someone went to the trouble of finding this and putting it in the middle of the floor downstairs." I took the picture back, rubbing my fingers over the red permanent marker. "I've got a theory."

"Do tell."

"The guy who killed Maya and my parents," I said slowly, mulling it over, "was at our house in the first place to steal, but when my family got in his way, they ended up dead. He took a lot of things that night. We've just been robbed, and there's a picture of my sister with an X drawn over it lying in the middle of the floor- my sister, who _he _killed." I told her this as calmly as I could, because the anger was starting to fill me up, threatening to spill over. I hadn't hated someone so much in a long time; I never thought about that- that _murderer_ if I could help it. "It seems lie a clear message to me."

Max looked doubtful. "Look, Fang, I believe you. It sounds right, but… if you can't prove it, there's nothing you can do. Not everyone gets this thing as well as you. I don't know if I understand it much, either," she said honestly. "The police should be here to check for prints tonight. We'll find out something then. Tell them about it." She seemed out of her element- I guess it was usually me comforting her, not the other way around- but she reached out and gave me a quick squeeze on the shoulder anyway. I appreciated that.

But that was when Iggy showed up at the top of the stairs. "Hey, Hotpants. Doc says don't touch anything, the cops are gonna look around."

I was taken aback. "_What did you just call m-"_

"Freezing jeans makes 'em a bit tighter, bro. Hey, Max," he said cheerfully, somehow knowing that she was there. She flipped him an unseen middle finger for no clear reason.

I resigned myself to dropping the picture back where I found it, following Iggy and Max downstairs. While I put it back in my pocket, a thought came to mind: what's with the random pictures showing up lately? There's no way Sam could have been in Aspen, no way…

And aside from that, freezing my jeans didn't make them _that_ much tighter, right?

* * *

><p>"Hey," someone whispered, cracking the door open. "I have news. C'mere."<p>

_Finally._

Assigned to sleep in the twin's room, as mine was being checked for fingerprints, I had to stay holed up and awake in here since after midnight when the small squad of cops started looking. There were only four or five, but they didn't want a bunch of teenagers and a nine-year-old in their way, and thus we were packed off to bed and told that the good doctor would let us know everything tomorrow. I could neither wait that long nor sleep. It's three in the morning. I'm exhausted. Everyone's exhausted- or they're lucky and asleep.

So to my surprise, the person at the door was our resident sleep addict: Max.

"What are you doing here? You're gonna get caught," I whispered urgently, my face close to the door.

"Shut up and listen. I didn't stick my neck out for you for nothing. I did a little eavesdropping, snuck around. No prints downstairs or in Dr. M's office. No prints anywhere, and they're almost done with your room. If that Sam guy did this, he was a stealthy bastard about it."

"And the picture?"

"Nothing but your fingerprints."

My heart dropped. "So there's no proof at all," I said quietly. When I was asked about the X on the picture earlier before they sent us away, I told them what I thought- they said if they had proof that he was here, it'd be all backed up and believable. They'd look into the possibility of it, only because of the photograph and the X. But until that point it was clear to me that to them, I was just some teenager who didn't know what he was talking about. Great.

"Sorry," she said a bit softly, and looked around. "Someone's coming. Gotta scram- seeya."

She left, and in defeat I went back to bed and stared up at the ceiling. I've been over this a million times in my head during the last couple hours, and it occurred to me: am I putting her in danger? What if because I'm here, and if he wants me, he sees her as just another loose end- or worse, all of them? I'd be dead, so not able to feel guilt, but Christ, if anything happened to her because of me...

Of course he would've been so thorough as to leave no evidence. And I was _so sure_ it was him- no one was gonna sway me on that. Who else would go to all that trouble? Normal thieves take what they want and get out, not decimate everything in three select rooms. People say a picture speaks a thousand words, and in this case, those words are loud and clear.

I've been told at least seven times in the last three hours to just calm down and stay out of it, that it's all okay- but it's not okay! I'm not okay! I have to completely avoid thinking about my family if I don't want to end up falling back into that depression I used to be in. If I don't keep it out of my mind I just feel so _angry, _all the time, like I could really hurt someone, like I could kill someone, like I'd kill Sam if he were there. I shouldn't have to forget about the people I love because of_ one person! _

I wanted to punch the wall, or something, or someone. This is exactly what I'm talking about. I can't let myself feel this much hate- it eats away at me, and then I feel guilty again, and then I get depressed, and it gets to be an endless, vicious cycle.

I'm getting better at letting go, though- I haven't felt this angry in months. I've been trying to leave the past behind lately, just forget it all happened. I mean... I know I'll be worse off if I keep missing my family, so I let her distract me, preoccupy me. It's never _easy,_ but I've been fighting it for a year and a half and it's made me tougher on the inside, like her. We struggle for our peace of mind, and over time it builds up resistance. That makes us- _me- _able to deal with things like this.

* * *

><p>Max had no idea.<p>

I watched as she threw up her hands in exasperation. "I swear, I'm the only one who's actually picking anything up," she muttered as she stalked around the living room, scooping up another photo album and shelving it. Max existed merely to torture me, of that I was pretty sure.

Maybe she wasn't aware of it, or maybe she knew exactly what was going on and was doing it just to infuriate me, but something about the way she's acting today- with the sweeping her hair back and the unintentionally swinging her hips _just ever so slightly _when she walked_-_ was enough to make steam hiss out of my nose like in those old cartoons.

No, Max definitely had no idea.

"Hey, I have to cook you fatties lunch," Iggy called from the kitchen. "Starve if that's how you want it."

"And you're so busy making simple sandwiches and being lazy that you can't help out?" she called back to him

"Damn straight!"

She disregarded the fact that _oh, screw you too, Max, I'm sweeping broken glass over here,_ and went back to muttering about why no one else was cleaning the huge mess from the break-in. She was partially right about that; somehow everyone else had wormed their way out of it in the last hour or snuck off while Dr. Martinez went grocery shopping. Max faced me and bent down to right a floor lamp, which gave me a tempting view of- certain things. I looked away, smacked myself in the side of the head with the broom handle, cursed, and got a very strange look from Max.

Yeah, that Max situation wasn't going all that well, and last night's events still sucked as hard as ever.

"HOTPANTS! COME GET 'CHA SAMMICH!" Iggy yelled from the kitchen.

"Quit calling me Hotpants," I snapped and made for the kitchen _only slightly_ dramatically, a little more angrily than I usually took Iggy's teasing.

He passed me some sort of thing that was probably a sandwich. Maybe laced with ghost chilis, knowing him. "Hey, hey, calm yo tits. Just trying to lighten you up, drama queen."

"I _don't_ have tits, I'm _not_ a drama queen, and I _don't_ need lightening up."

"Says the master of angst," he replied in an irksomely cheerful tone.

I took a ferocious bite out of the sandwich._ Shit, that's delicious_. Now I know how Max feels when she has to deal with him on her bad days, one of which I was currently having. Max was the only one who was actually on my side about who broke in last night, I'd been up until three, _and_ there was Max herself being all too Maxlike. "Give it a rest," I commanded threateningly.

"I know what's bugging you," he said with a hint of smugness crawling into his voice.

"Do you?" I replied flatly. That could be a horrendously bad thing. _Horrendously. _Depending on the Max-bugging-me or the Sam-bugging-me.

"I won't be too nosy," he lied blatantly, "but it seems there's a _certain girl_ in our family you've developed a little crushy crush on." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. (So it was that-bugging-me. Shiiiiiiiitttttt.)

"You're ridiculous."

"Hey, I know how you feel. She's perfect for you," he told me, clapping a hand onto my back. "You're grumpy, she's grumpy, it's a match made in disgruntled paradise."

"Get off me."

"Fang, Fang, Fang," he tutted condescendingly. "I bet when she walks by, you blush a lovely shade of pink."

That struck a nerve in _all_ the wrong places, and I was starting to get irate. "Shut up before I let it slip to Dr M you made out with her daughter."

For a second, his eyes widened and then slitted, catlike. "You dare?"

"I dare. Don't think I didn't see you guys before we left Aspen. Oh, and behind the car. And when we got home last night," I added as an afterthought. Sneaking around had its uses, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who knew of their little, grossly couple-ish trysts. I never tried to stumble upon it and often wished I hadn't, but at my level of stealthy badassery, they were being _really obvious._

"So what? You're bluffing. And changing the subject at the same time, you devil. Anyway, about the blushing-"

"I don't!"

"So you're saying you like her?"

"I- you- oh fine, whatever," I grumbled, hoping he would drop it now and let me escape with my lunch. Unfortunately, Iggy was not like to cave, which I remembered point-five seconds after that slipped out.

"AHA! So what are you gonna do about it?" he asked triumphantly.

"Hell if I know. Nothing?"

"Lame. Look, I'm good with the ladies, as you've apparently seen," he said with a wink, and I nearly gagged. I was never touching the back of the car _ever again_. "I could give you some tips."

I leaned back against the counter and dropped the hostility. When he wasn't being an idiot, Ig and I could talk somewhat like normal guys. "Tips... From you. About _Max_." The last thing I needed was relationship advice from Iggy about her. He doesn't even have a clue what she's really like.

"You heard me, man."

I shrugged, a little exasperated and unwilling to kill his manly-chat joy. "Fire away."

"So you guys are besties or something, right?" he inquired, in the process of making a grilled cheese.

"I... guess you could say besties..." I lifted an eyebrow, not sure were this was going or why he had to use that word again.

Out of the blue Iggy just _straight up __slapped me_ so hard it completely snapped my head to the side and left a white handprint. Involuntarily I clutched my face. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Pull yourself together, man!" Iggy said, poking me in the chest. "If you treat her like a friend that's what she'll be! Don't be so passive. Flirt with her like she's Emma Watson."

"You can't flirt with Max and get away with it, Ig, she's not that kind of-"

"Ah ah ah," he denied, shaking a finger at me. "You guys flirt all the time, just not quite enough for you to come to your senses."

I rubbed my cheek. Jeez, that guy can slap people like Max can. "You do realize she's not Emma Watson, right? At all?"

"But you still wanna hit that."

I chose to ignore that comment, because at this point in the way Max and I interacted that was a vaguely disturbing thought. I mean, it's not like I don't- _oh Jesus Christ_, this train of thought needs to crash, because I'm not even going to _begin_ to think about that. (How does Iggy even know what Emma Watson is like? Does Gazzy tell him these things? To the Dark Corner of Sass with these thoughts.) I just- no. "Look," Iggy continued, flipping the sandwich in the pan, "don't treat her like a cat and retreat every time she gets mad and then cuddle her affectionately like you would a sibling." I attempted to point out that Max would never allow herself to be cuddled, but he overrode me determinedly. "Not gonna work for you, dude."

I opened my mouth, closed it, and repeated the process. It was partially because of shock that Iggy was capable of giving any sort of relationship advice other than things like _"Go up to her and say " 'EY YO GURL, YOU WANT SOME FUCK"_ or something like that. Iggy being serious should be documented and put on Animal Planet. The other part was revolted that I was still listening to him and liking what I was hearing. "Yeah, whatever, that makes sense. Thanks. Or something. But stay out of this from now on or risk the dire consequences."

His shoulders rose and fell. "My lips are sealed, lover boy. I've gotta take care of my own affairs." By that he meant not get into a pile of shit seven feet tall for keeping he and Ella's little affair a secret from her mom. "'Course, it's vice versa too." Yeah, yeah, he'd drop to Max's feet and serenade her with embarrassing One Direction songs on my behalf if I breathed a word of them, and I knew it. But for now it was the mutual secret never-speak-of-it-again thing. This whole conversation never happened once I left the room.

I just have one question: where the hell did Iggy learn all that stuff? When he said he was good with ladies I didn't expect him to actually _be kinda good with ladies. _"Stupid good advice," I muttered, grabbing the remnants of my sandwich and walking to the table to eat. It's not easy to admit how overwhelmingly right Iggy was about _anything_. Especially after he slaps you for no reason. "Stupid Max..."

Spirits above, she was making this difficult. I like what I see, but I'm not going to abuse it, because I have a lot of respect for Max- just like anyone should. She doesn't deserve to be ogled at, and it makes me feel weird for doing that to her as we've got quite a bit of history, i.e. things like how I've nearly thrown up on her, she's cried a little on me, we've fought more times than I can count on my fingers, and we've fallen asleep all over each other several times. When you know someone like her as well as I do, it's not easy to just look at them like only a nice body. It wasn't like she was suddenly pretty and that made her good enough or some such stupid thing. It was more like "hey, she's female", which makes it **_not_** weird for me to like her a lot, and now I can admit these crazy feelings to myself and not be ashamed.

I think I've liked her like this for a while but just shoved it way down. I suppose I couldn't say, "What's not to love about Max?" and have you people understand, but believe me, she's great. If not optimistic and happy, she's still got a personality I can identify with. Plus, on some occasions, she's witty, endearingly awkward, and funny. That's when she's not all worked up about something, and when she's mad, I can relate to her even more. We've both dealt with that amount of anger.

Know why I never ever say these things out loud? I'm terrible at this. If I tried to explain it to her it'd come out something like "Your face. I like that shit."

I'm not a coward, I'm just _horrible with girls like her, _and before I do anything serious I'll wait for a _very clear_ signal. Possibly a signal so bright it can be seen from space. She may also have to post a billboard, draw a map, etc. There's no way I'm pushing her until she's ready. Can't believe I'm saying it, but Iggy's advice might be useful, which I only admit grudgingly. It wouldn't be pushing or being too outright with her. But Iggy has no right to be correct in these things. Couldn't it have been Oprah or something? You try to admit to the most non-serious guy on the face of the planet that he's right about something he shouldn't be allowed to be right about.

**YO THIS IS IMPORTANT SO READ IT.**

**Hello, lovely reviewers! Putting in a little note here before we move on: I think that now that Iggy's with Ella he'll be ****_slightly _****more grounded and mature, but only by degrees. And despite his blindess, I think he'd be the first to pick up Fang's affection of this type for Max. I noticed while reading the story over again that Iggy does hang around Max quite a bit, if only to annoy her, because isn't seeing Max flustered and angry so fun for him? And Fang hangs around Max all the time, which means he's around Iggy, and therefore Iggy sees the difference in the way he talks to her and how he orients himself while around her, when he's quiet and when he's not, which can be a big telltale on what Fang thinks of Max. And plus, he's always got Gazzy to lazily describe what goes on to him. Pardon my thinking, but I think that Gazzy isn't as perceptive as Iggy can be when Ig's not screwing around and messing with everyone. **

**So Iggy notices, and he ****_knows that feel _****about trying to get the girl, and now that he's got his, he can be snarky and devious and attempt to get Max and Fang to hook up. For laughs and blackmail. Besides (and I know this because I've seen it in virtually all of my guy friends- I have three female friends to about fifteen guys) in such situations sometimes guys develop this little mutual man-bond. The whole A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR OUR BROTHERS IN THE FRIENDZONE and whatnot. My elder brother sometimes drops these tidbits of information to me and I hoard them for when I write from a guy's POV. The point is, an unlikely sort-of friendship will develop with Iggy and Fang during Fang's attempts to escape the seventh hell known as the friendzone. Ig's gonna do a ****_little less _****teasing Fang and freezing his pants and a ****_little _****_more _****helping him out and telling no soul about this, because despite the glorious embarrassment and blackmail options there for the taking, it could screw everything up, and once those crazy kids are actually in a relationship he can stop being affectionately exasperated with them and then proceed to hold it over their head- because he plans by then to somehow have broken the news of he and Ella to Dr Martinez, because they know they can't keep it a secret forever and the longer it takes the scarier her reaction will be. 'Sides, Iggy wants to show off his girl, and they're going to school soon. If some guy perceives Ella as not taken (or vice versa with Iggy and a girl) he could make moves on her and ****_that doesn't fly _****with our blind friend.**

**Whoah, that turned out to be way longer than I expected. But I just thought I'd get it out in the air.**

**-Sierra**

**(And also, photograph symbolism _because I can that's why, _and hang in there, Eggy shippers, you'll get your details.)**


	27. Quite Important AN

Heh. Uh. Heyyyyy, guys. Please don't murder me?

I'm just gonna say right out, that as you might have noticed, I'm not writing Scars anymore. I'm not really writing anymore at all.

I've just been drawing a lot more lately, and i have almost zero time now, between school and drawing and keeping in touch with the people I love, because that's been more difficult lately as some of them aren't physically present at all, and some i see for about fifteen minutes a day. Also, my interests are a lot different, and they only barely include Maximum Ride anymore. I've sort of grown out of the books. I'm not gonna forget them, because they got me into writing and drawing, but I'm just not interested enough to continue Scars anymore.

Now look, I'm not gonna quit it completely. I figure, that if somebody wants to collaborate with me, I'll hand over the story for the most part. As long as I get to edit and advise the new author, I'll pass it along to someone new. They get the credit and the reviews and everything. We'll work that out when I find a new author.

So as far as choosing the new writer, if anyone wants to write this- i completely understand if everyone is fucking done with this story all ready- just private message me. Tell me a little bit about you and your writing, and where you might wanna take this story, and if you don't know the latter, that's cool. We'll just talk for a bit. And if there ends up being multiple people who want this story, then i dunno, i'll find a way to choose.

Yeah, so if there's anyone out there who's interested, let me know. I'll be hanging around this site for a while longer.


	28. New Author!

I've officially chosen an author!

Firstly I'd like to say thank you to everyone who tried out- you were ALL great, and all have a lot of potential as a writer! And remember that I'm always here to help out with your writing or offer criticism/praise. I love helping people improve.

Congratulations to the new author of Scars, **The Artemis!**

This lovely lady has shown me enormous potential as a writer for this particular story and quite a deep understanding of the characters. We're working quite closely together on the story right now; a new chapter hasn't been started, but patience, my dear readers! You'll have your story in due time, hopefully better than ever with her new ideas and insights thrown in there, and her great writing style!

A word from The Artemis herself:

_Hey guys! It's so nice to meet you all! I'm really honored to take the reins for this story (with Sierra's close watch, of course) and I hope you guys are too. I've been a really big fan of this story, and to tell you the truth was scared someone was going to ruin it when she said she was giving it away. So, as a fan, I promise I will do whatever I can to not mess it up completely. And I'm sure Sierra wouldn't let me do that in the first place, anyway! It would mean the world to me if you guys continued reading and reviewing and following this story even after it's in my hands. As Sierra said before, we will be working extremely closely to make sure nothing changes. Thank you guys so much and I'm excited to meet you all!_

_Love, _

_The Artemis_

Thank you all so much for your patience! We'll try to get a chapter up ASAP.


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